Haunting Shadows
by Black-Fl0wer
Summary: A certain moment in life can change everything. They may close their eyes to the facts but the shadows will always be there lurking. Some things will never be forgotten. Rated T for strong language.
1. Ch1: Welcome back, Soldier

**Author's Note: **Yeah, it's me again. I know I said on DA that I wanted to hold off publishing this story here while _Disease_ is updated regularly (more or less) but since it is finished I feel really bored. Originally the first fanfiction was a kind of experiment for me, an experiment to figure out if I'm able to write a whole story in English. It worked and well, I decided to continue it but I wasn't really happy with it all the time (no worries, that doesn't mean that the ones of you who like _Disease_ won't get the ending). Since many readers found it very amusing (all the banter etc.) I considered that the next one had to be more serious - and _Haunting Shadows_ is what finally came out. Please don't get me wrong, humor was in the spotlight of _Disease_ and I was glad that so many people appreciated it. :)

So what is expecting you? More action, more character depth, a berserker and many more. It may well be that this story is similar to the first one on some points. If so, I'm sorry but I guess it's just my style of writing. Another thing, I'm keeping away from adult scenes this time. ;)

Last but not least I would particularly like to thank Mana4X2 for being my beta. We got into a conversation and she was interested in the story, read the first two chapters and gave me worthwhile feedback. :) You should check out her epic story, _Deployable Weapon_. It's one of the best around this site.

I don't own any of the characters (except some Stranded OCs in the last chapters); they are all property of Epic Games.

**Chapter 1: Welcome back, Soldier**

Yes, she had lost the child. But it hadn't been her fault; why should it have been? What should she have done when the polyps overran the COG base? Abandon her comrades – her family – to their fate and save her own ass? She'd been pregnant but that didn't mean that she'd been inoperativetoo.

However, now the baby was gone and she was going to return to duty.

When she knocked on the head quarter's door und finally entered the room, she was full of hope to be allocated to a mission or at least to one of the squads even today – after having had bed rest for the last few days.

"Private Byrne." Hoffman was looking at her. Needless to say that he was up to date. Every fucking person on this fucking island was up to date. All these pitiful views alone could have made her vomit.

"Colonel." Samantha Byrne just nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Good to see you again. Admittedly, the circumstances are a bit…" Hoffman paused for a moment.

_C'mon. Just say it. Sucking ass._

"… unfortunate, but a soldier of your caliber was really missing."

Sam nodded again.

_And that's how it works. You can't handle to do your bit for saving humankind from extinction – so you gonna end where you started from._

"I was told that you want to return to duty as quickly as possible. So I would have two options for you. Either you are due to keep company with Alpha Squad or you rejoin Del-"

"The latter," Sam interrupted the Colonel.

Now it was Hoffman who nodded. "You can find Fenix and his squad at the port, watching over the sea."

"Got it." The brunette woman then left the control room, not sure why she'd chosen her usual squad. Must have been instinct or something like that…

* * *

><p>The further she approached her mark, the more the thoughts in her head began to circle. This would be the first time in days since she'd seen him.<p>

From a distance she could already see Cole who was turning his head towards her at this moment. Inconspicuously he nudged his buddy Baird's boot with his own. When the blonde didn't react he repeated the procedure – with the same result. Okay, it was time for the hard way.

"Hey Sam, you are back!" he finally called. Marcus, Jace and Dom were now looking up, too. Baird was the only one who didn't do anything.

"That's how it goes," she answered, standing still next to Cole. For a moment she wondered why Anya wasn't with them, but then her view focused on Baird. The blonde obviously treated her as if she wasn't there. It hurt, but basically she should have been aware of that. It had been all just a sense of obligation on his part.

Cole closed in to Baird a bit, leaving enough space for Sam to take a seat. It was already dark and the squad had made itself comfortable around a fire, considering that everything was peaceful at the moment. Since the said Lambent attack on the base no more incidents had happened.

Sam sat down beside Cole. Then silence infected the stifling air. For minutes.

Marcus was the first one who took a peek at the circle. Perhaps he was also the only one who was able to understand what was going on between Sam and Baird. A blind man could see that Sam was anything but okay. Even Baird; he had to notice it. And Marcus was damn sure that he did. In fact all the blonde did wasn't too different from what he'd done himself all the time. Terrifying similarities which Marcus now observed, recognizing himself from the outside. All that on-again, off-again, the sex, vanishing in the middle of the night, the frantic getting back to business as usual the next day…

"Shit." He got up and disappeared somewhere in the darkness.

Dom watched him go, knowing for sure what was going on in his head.

_You see the similarities, don't you, Marcus?_

But yes, of course, Dom had noticed the tension in the atmosphere as well. Somehow it made him feel sorry whenever he came into contact with people who didn't have the ability to be quite clear about their feelings. Baird and Sam were the latest example. They had hurt each other day after day once more. And since this special incident the lack of communication was dominating them both.

Dom finally raised his head; his gaze first met Baird's, then Sam's. The tension increased when they both looked at each other for a second. In spite of everything Dom had great respect for Sam, after experiencing all this shit. If there was one person who was able to understand how it felt to lose your children then it was definitely him. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and then stood up too. Someone had to give Corporal Bigmouth a piece of his mind.

Dom departed several meters from the group. Under a pretext he then enticed Baird to follow him. "Hey Baird, can you have a look at this boat here? Looks… broken!" he yelled in the blonde's direction.

Baird straightened himself, sighing. "What would you do without me?" He then trailed Dom's voice. "Where?"

Dom pointed at a small abandoned boat. The blonde gave it a cursory glance, before he finally smelled the rat. He lifted one eyebrow and turned his head towards the bearded man. "Are you kidding me? There's nothing!"

Now Dom was looking serious. "Listen. I don't know how often I've said this to Marcus in recent years, but… _God_, go and have a straight talk with her! Can't you see that she's feeling shitty?" Baird's silence almost burned him up. "She was pregnant by you! Don't you latch onto this? You two nearly had a child."

"Fft! Exactly. Nearly." The blonde tried hard to look unimpressed. "Not anymore. So why should I care any longer?"

"Don't act like it only would've mattered if you'd actually had the child!"

"You are funny, Santiago. No kidding. You can see where all this shit leads when looking at your own life. Wife dead, children dead. Thumps up." Baird patted him on the shoulder, making his way back to the fire. Okay, so these hadn't been quite his wisest and nicest words but somehow Dom had to get that he couldn't change the world the way he would like to. Nevertheless this time he really had been an asshole, he had to admit that.

Arriving at the group Baird finally sat down, followed by Dom who now kept quiet but didn't discontinue his doubtful glances. The blonde felt like he had to ease the situation, defuse the ticking bomb. "Where's Sergeant Dickhead?"

Dom flashed his eyes at him. "I guess he's rethinking his behavior. Other persons could also do with that."

Suddenly Baird jumped up. "You have a fucking problem, Santiago?"

"_You _are my problem!" Dom followed suit, looking him straight in the eye.

The mouthy Gear grunted threateningly and held Dom's gazeuntil Sam sighed, joining the club by also jumping up. "So what? We are all in the know. Everybody here and on this island knows that Baird and me had a fling with each other. Everybody knows that this ended up in a pregnancy and everybody knows that Baird makes no secret of being an asshole," the brunette woman said, looking at Baird.

"You better watch your mouth!" he threatened.

"Why should I? You can't trash me away like garbage; you've already done this! So what do you want to do?"

"What should I do with a woman who apparently is too stupid to take it easy? Hell, you were suspended from duty, may I remind you of that? If there's one person who should have a remorse then it's definitely you, Sam! It's your fault what happened, just for the record!" Baird pressed his forefinger against Sam's chest. "Fucking bitch."

That was it. There was prompt silence once again. Sam stared at him, stunned, while Cole shook his head and buried his face in his hands afterwards. Dom on the other hand was about to say something when he noticed Sam clenching her fist and punching Baird right in his face. The blonde could hear his nose cracking and shortly after that he could taste blood in his mouth.

"Goddamn asshole!" the female Gear yelled at him. "I'm through with you! Fuck you! I just hope that one day you will choke by your own shit!" Then she left the squad at a quick pace.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you, too!" Baird called after her, speaking through his nose readily. He wiped away the blood which didn't stop running out of his nose.

"That's _your _own fault, Damon Baby." Cole finally stated, ready to go after Sam. When Dom wanted to do the same he stopped him. "I'll do that." The former Trashball player left, searching for the woman.

"Baird, you can't be all there!" Dom gave his full attention back to Baird.

"Well, screw you, Santiago! Why the fuck are you interfering in this? Stay out of this!"

"Pissing others off permanently and being surprised about their reactions?"

Suddenly the remaining Gears turned their heads. Marcus was back.

"Never thought I'd ever say that in my life, but… Baird, you are even more emotionally crippled than me." The Sergeant then sat down again.

Meanwhile Dom pulled Baird around. "Fuck, go and apologize to her. She wasn't responsible for what happened. Go and blame these Lambent bastards who nearly ripped out her guts!" He knew for sure that his big mouth was a defense mechanism once again. It was obvious that the whole situation wasn't easy to handle for him either. Yes, it was a sad story but**,** in spite of it all**,** accusing each other wasn't the solution.

"What do _you_ know?" Baird first cursed and then went away.

"You are on duty right now." Marcus reminded him.

"You were, too. And it didn't matter to you, did it? Do me a favor and don't show off, okay asshole?" This were the last words Dom, Marcus and Jace heard from the blonde.

"Someday I'm gonna break his jaw," Marcus murmured.

* * *

><p>Sam wandered around aimlessly. Her eyes were already burning, while she tried to keep her tears under. She didn't want so come out the girl. But in the end she no longer had success in maintaining her composure; her tears began running down her cheeks.<p>

She moved along. Cole was following a few meters further back. He didn't rightly know what to do but then he decided to catch her attention. "Sam! Baby, hang on!"

Sam didn't react – not even when Cole finally put his hands on her shoulder, making her stop. She was trembling. He guessed that she was already crying and just didn't want to show it. Out of respect for her he let her go. "The idiot didn't mean it…"

Sam didn't answer. Instead she desperately tried to wipe away her tears, but they came back again and again. "Shit…" Her voice was shaking. From then on it was all the same to her; she turned around to Cole, her hair already stuck to her wet cheeks. "Why? Why does he say all this shit?"

Cole looked lost, before Sam pressed against him. "Why's it my fault? Fuckin' tell me!"

"It probably just… He quite often doesn't think about what he says."

_Wow, Damon. This time you really did a good job…_

Sometimes Cole felt like he was the only one who understood women. Maybe Dom could have outstripped him. However, he couldn't really understand his best friend. Sure, they all were used to his bitchy behavior and the fact that he was often overdoing things, but this time he definitely went too far. Man, he had never seen Sam like this before…

He was jolted out of his thoughts when someone was clearing his throat. It was Baird.

_Wow, shit. What must this look like?_

At least Cole had still put his arms around Sam.

"Well, did you have to moan at Cole about how oh-so horrible I am?" Baird immediately continued where he had ended before Sam left.

"Baby, cut the crap!" Cole tried his best to shut him up before he could get obsessed about the whole issue further and further.

"I wasn't talking to you." Baird fixed the brunette woman. Apparently it was another bizarre way on his part to express an apology. A new language; Bairdish or something like that. Nobody knew.

Sam, who had regained her poise, was staring back at Baird now. "Fuck off!"

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Baird put his hands on his hips. "Leaving you alone with Cole."

Okay, so now it was absolutely clear that the blonde viewed Cole as an intruder at this moment - an intruder into his territory.

_Holy shit, why does this always happen to me?_

Cole gently pushed Sam aside and lifted his hands, apologizing.

"You have a problem with me and Cole being alone?" The brunette's eyes flashed at Baird. She then pulled his buddy back to her and quickly pressed her lips on his.

Cole's eyes just widened, watching the other man from their corners. He didn't look too amused.

_Shit, man! What's the point of that?_

Now he was fully included in this whole drama. There wasn't a way out. And when Sam finally stopped kissing him, flipping Baird off and then leaving, he was more than sure that he would get a clout off his friend. Indeed he did. It didn't take long until the Corporal came towards him and socked him on the jaw, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. After that Baird was gone, too.

Cole looked at him while he passed by, his hand reaching his chin. Fuck, that hurt. "Holy shit, I didn't do a thing…" he murmured.


	2. Ch2: All these Moments

**Author's Note: **Only a little note: This chapter completely consists of flashbacks which aren't in a chronological order (with good reason). Every part by itself is completed. There will be more of this kind, trying to give an insight into the whole background story.

**Chapter 2: All these Moments**

_Baird gave a self-ironic laugh. "My parents probably would have been proud of me for the first time in their life. At least if they w__ere still alive." He perched on the floor, his back leaning on the bed on which Sam was sitting._

"_Why's that?" she asked._

_Her question didn't surprise him. How exactly was she supposed to know this tiresome story? Baird had hardly wasted any words on his childhood or his parents all the years. Cole was the only one who knew more about him and that was probably just because they had known each other for a long time._

"_Well, their sonny finally joined the army after all. And on top of that an offspring. The old man and the old woman really would have a reason to be proud." It seemed that he was smirking slightly. _

"_I see."_

"_The fuck you do!"_

"_I know that originally you had other plans than joining the army, Cole once had hinted at something like that. So don't pan me, okay?" Sam hauntingly looked at him from behind._

"_But hey! I mean, a little Baird – that's just nice!" The cynicism in his voice was unmistakable. "With Baird Senior being on front fighting the shit out of grubs and other scum and his wife and child staying at home. That's exactly what you expect from life."_

"_Don't behave like an asshole." Sam thought about it for a few seconds, then she decided to stretch out her hand and put it on Baird's shoulder. Moments later she came closer and finally put her hands around him, leaning her forehead against the back of his head. The blonde man didn't defend against her touch. "I am pretty sure they would have been proud of you even without joining the army," Sam whispered. Baird didn't answer. Maybe this was the most intimate moment they'd ever shared._

"_Hoffman's favoring you somehow, isn't he?" He turned his head a bit, changing the subject abruptly. "Why?"_

_Sam lifted her eyebrow, remaining in her position. "He does?"_

"_Sergeant Samuel Byrne must have been a man of ability from what is said…" Yes, of course Baird was again well informed about everything. "Seems he's feeling guilty. Maybe he owes you something?"_

_Now that Baird had gotten his teeth into this Sam saw no other choice but to tell him about the whole affair. "Hoffman has helped me. That's all." When the blonde didn't answer she sighed heavily. Stubborn idiot! "All right, all right! When my mother died I normally would have been ready for one of these fucking breeding farms. Lucky me that my father was such a legend, so Hoffman was able to step in and stop some Gears who wanted to take me away, thus saving me from the common woman's destiny."_

"_So this means the diagnosis of infertility was actually quite correct…" Baird added. _

"_They made the diagnosis of infertility, yes."_

"… _which turned out to be a fake, as we all know by this time." Now he shoved her hands off of him._

"_Dr. Hayman wouldn't tell me shit."_

"_Surely not__," Baird now put his hands behind his neck. "Never trust a woman, even if she's 'infertile'."_

"_Shut the hell up and accept it! At least you could have done something about that, too." Sam seated herself beside Baird._

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah…"_

* * *

><p><em>Something was wrong. Sam noticed the disturbance when she was on her way back from Dr. Hayman. All the Gears nearby were on the move.<em>

"_Hey, what happened?" She stopped one of them._

"_Lambent attack!" he shortly answered and then went on immediately, his Lancer at the ready._

"_Shit," Sam murmured, already jogging to her quarters. Without thinking she put on her full armor, strapped the boots on and took her Lancer. Then she left her room again, looking for her squad. Only when she stopped somewhere along the way she got thoughtful. Hoffman had ordered her to quit the service and even Marcus had put her out of his squad once the news had got about. She actually was supposed to take care of herself, but could she really put her feet up while her comrades were putting their asses on the line? No, she wasn't that sort of human._

_So she ran on, meanwhile putting in her earpiece and pressing the button. "Marcus? This is Sam! You hear me?"_

"_Yes," the Sergeant replied without demanding why she was on duty again._

"_Where are you?"_

_But this time it wasn't Marcus who answered her, it was Baird. "Damn you! You are not part of Delta anymore!"_

_The next she could hear was the blonde arguing heatedly with Marcus about pregnant women on the battlefield via radio. Okay, she decided to interfere again. "Gears don't let each other down! I'll watch out." _

_There were gunshots and finally Marcus' voice: "All right, Sam. We're at the depot now. Watch your step. Marcus out."_

_Sam hurried up and saw the attack's sheer magnitude when she finally reached the depot. Apart from Delta there were several more Gears firing at a good dozen polyps. Next to Baird she came to a halt, taking cover immediately. _

"_Well, you got your way?" He looked at her just for the blink of an eye and then concentrated on aiming again._

"_Too right!" Sam shot some of the creatures. "I want to keep my hands in, you know?"_

_Baird grinned slightly, clearing his throat and firing once more._

_Meanwhile Marcus and Dom had been able to advance a bit, trying to put the polyps to rout. "Go, go, go! They are retreating!" Marcus yelled, pushing the soldiers onwards._

_Cole joined the group, looking back at Sam and Baird for a second. "Let's go!" Then he followed the other Gears._

_Baird was about to do the same, when he suddenly had to stop because he noticed__Sam wasn't behind him. "What's the matter?"_

"_Shit, I feel nauseated," she gasped._

"_God, that's why I told the dickhead… Well, what am I actually telling? It's pointless. Everybody on this fucking squad's listening with half an ear anyway!" Baird frowned, shaking his head in disbelief. This was just great!_

"_Damn, that's because of the pregnancy!" _

"_Oooh, smart cookie. No kidding. Would you mind scramming now?"_

"_I'm no coward! Got it?" Sam felt better bit by bit._

_Baird only rolled his eyes. "Okay, just for the record: That was an order!"_

_Before Sam could answer the blonde man pointed his Lancer at her. "Get down!" he shouted, waiting for her to crouch. He pulled the trigger._

_Only now when she turned around she realize the reason: there'd been a polyp behind her. Actually it was a dead polyp now._

"_Look at this! Are you willing to leave now?" Baird's voice was filled with emphasis, so that she recognized that this wasn't the right situation for a pregnant woman._

"_Okay…" Sam conceded, letting the other Gear do his duty. But she managed only a few steps until there was a tough jerk on her back. Another polyp landed besides her on the ground. "Bastard! Eat shit!" She killed the creature but was dragged to the ground by the burden on her back at the same moment. Then the weight was gone._

_Sam turned over onto her back, immediately catching sight of an additional polyp sitting in front of her. "Shithead…" She aimed with her Lancer and fired… but she didn't hit her target. The creature had evaded by jumping on her upper body._

_Baird who had heard the shots approached her at a smart pace. "Shit, I told you so!" Simply shooting was impossible. That bastard would have exploded still being on Sam's body. In this case there would have been nothing the armor could do for her. "Get up!" he yelled over to her, aiming his Lancer at the polyp. There was no better plan._

_But it was already too late. Sam uttered a terrible scream when the enemy pierced through her armor with his legs. The next thing he saw was blood everywhere. Baird ran amok, kicking the polyp off of her body which was still clinging to the armor, just to knock its lights out the next second._

_Shit, that was it. It was over… He knew for sure when he saw her lying there in her blood. Sam also knew when she pressed her hand on her wound._

"_Control, this is Baird!" he shouted via the radio. "I need a doctor here!" It was clear in his mind this would probably take a while__– time he and Sam didn't have – so he lifted her. "Fuck that doctor!" Taking her to Dr. Hayman by himself would take less time. Of course it wouldn't, but hope was the last thing to die._

* * *

><p><em>He remembered the first time he met Sam. Colonel Hoffman allocated her to Delta after the COG had moved into the Naval Base. She immediately attracted his attention with her big mouth. One of the wandering Gears hadn't been at eye level with her while talking to her. Hearing the words "You like hospital food? If not you better take to your heels…" made Baird grin inward. That'd nearly reached his sort. Not that he would have admitted it…<em>

"_Sergeant Fenix." Hoffman finally stopped in front of Marcus. "That's Private Samantha Byrne. Probably you've heard of Samuel Byrne from Anvil Gate; she's his daughter."_

"_Yes, sir."Marcus replied. Byrne was something like a war hero from the siege of Anvil Gate._

_Hoffman gave him a nod. "Good. So Private Byrne will be your team mate from now on."_

_Instead of four they now were six Gears. Baird rolled his eyes. Oh no, actually seven, not forgetting Anya. Slow but steady all the female soldiers gained the upper hand. Not good…_

"_Wow!" Cole whispered, eyeing up the brunette woman with the green headband. "Really hot, isn't she, Damon Baby?"_

_Baird put his buddy off. "Yeah, yeah, you better pick her up then. But keep in mind that she has all the answers. I tell you, she doesn't like men, probably she's even lesbian or something like that."_

"_Baby, with me it's different. All the chicks soften up on the Cole Train." Cole checked the woman again. "Man!"_

_Baird followed his suit and took a closer look at Private Byrne. To be honest he already had seen something much worse, but their addition definitely didn't behave like a woman. Rather like a man being in a woman's body._

"_What is it, blondie?" Suddenly Private Byrne was standing in front of him, being several centimeters smaller than him. It was a funny perspective, just like a mouthy dwarf._

"_Nothing. I just asked myself how all the women manage to join the army. That for the most part you aren't even able to take aim isn't a secret, is it?" Somehow he had to test her out, whether she suited as target or not._

"_Oh, no worries. We can have a practice lesson if you want to. I bet I'm going to hit your balls the first round, you smartass." Sam sneered. _

"_Just call me 'Corporal Baird', that will do. And with that I am something like your boss." Baird seemed satisfied, at least for this moment. His plan worked perfectly, the female soldier joined the game. This was the perfect pastime when there wasn't anything to do._

"_I honestly don't give a shit about that."_

"_Oh, you should do." He looked down to her, taunting her a bit. "I can be a nice guy. Really. At least until someone is pissing me off. So just shut it and carry out your tasks." With these words Baird finally left her standing._

"_Who do you think you are?" Sam yelled after him._

"_Corporal Baird!" he yelled back, disappearing somewhere in the base._

"_He's just kidding, baby." Cole now interfered, not wanting to forfeit his chance._

"_I'll have fun with this motherfucker…" she soliloquized silently, not paying attention to him. She would show the blonde asshole who was boss._

_Dom put his hand on her shoulder. "With Baird? That's gonna be a tough nut to crack. He's just an asshole, you can't winkle this out of him anymore." He was laughing. "Plus Marcus is the boss of Delta."_

* * *

><p><em>She felt nauseous. Sam stood up from her chair and was leaving the gambling table. "I'm going to the toilet. Be right back." With these words she was leaving. Something wasn't okay with her. She had this sickness for days. And even now she was kissing the toilet bowl.<em>

_She wasn't the only one to whom this seemed strange. After ten minutes passed by and Sam hadn't returned Dom asked: "Are you sure that she only went for a pee?"_

_Baird shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe any female problems. Who cares?" Now it was his turn to place a card on the table._

_Bernie nodded. "Okay, so I'm going to look after her." She then followed Sam._

_Baird took the opportunity and had a look at her cards. "Fuck, Granny has a brazen luck!"_

"_Baby, that's cheating." Cole slammed his elbow into the blonde's side._

_In the meanwhile Bernie could already hear the barf sounds when she entered the toilet room. She trailed them, finally stopping behind Sam who was kneeling in front of a toilet bowl._

"_Are you unwell?"_

_Sam didn't turn around. "Must be. Even if I don't know why…"_

"_You've had this for a while?"_

"_Yeah, da-" Sam interrupted the sentence for another urge to gag. "Urgh!" Clear the ring for the next round!_

"_Listen, have you ever thought of…"_

"_Don't state it!" The brunette woman wiped her mouth. "Can't be."_

"_Don't take it the wrong way, but it doesn't look like this 'can't be'." Bernie put her hand on Sam's shoulder when she vomited again. "Maybe you're gonna pay Hayman a visit."_

_Now the other woman turned around, looking at her skeptically. "Fuck…"_

"_You can say that again. Blondie probably won't be too pleased." Bernie blinked one eye, even if this was a serious issue._

"_Shit." Sam shook her head in disbelief. "I'm long overdue... For weeks."_

"_It's all good. Better you tell him right away. Then you are over it."_

"_What are you talking about?" Finally Sam was able to part with the toilet, getting up now. How did Bernie know all of that at all?_

_As if she was able to read the younger woman's mind she answered: "You two are so easy to see through, even though Blondie enjoys playing Agent 007. You know, I'm the last who would blame you for having fun but when it comes to the consequences the fun stops." Bernie made a short pause. "Okay, I'm leaving you alone," she said before she went back to the others._

"_What?" Baird snapped at her when Bernie watched him carefully while sitting down. "I didn't look at your cards!"_

_He was an idiot after all. Well, maybe that was generally true for most of the men in relation to these things. Bernie decided to give it a slight try. "Sam gave the toilet bowl a hug…"_

"_She already had yesterday?" Dom interfered. "When we were out on a mission."_

_Bernie looked at him. At least Dom should be an exception. At least he had experienced this two times with Maria. He definitely would notice._

"_Let me think about it. Two days ago it was the same. Man, she had vomited on her boots." He paused for a moment, when he finally realized, darting a glance at Bernie in return. They both exchanged a gesture, and then everything was clear._

_Baird still hadn't understood. "Jeez, Granny. Will you take a card, __**please**__? I've planned to finish this even today."_

_The old woman did him this favor._

_Moments later Sam also returned to the group. "Sorry." She was about to sit down on her chair again when she suddenly felt sick again. Goddamn, today was a bad day!_

"_Hey, hey, just don't barf right here!" Baird bitched, moving away with his chair._

_Sam managed to fight against the nausea and finally decided that it was time to go. Hoping that Bernie hadn't blabbed she left the gambling round. "See you tomorrow."_

_As if this was infective Cole suddenly yawned. "I'm also gonna catch some Z's. Will ya manage?"_

"_Sure." Baird spoke for them all, watching his buddy leave too._

_Bernie took a look at the blonde again and again. Actually she shouldn't interfere in this any further, but she enjoyed imagining this bigmouth spending his time changing diapers full of baby poop soon. She then decided that it was better to keep quiet and brought this round to an end._

_Dom won it and Baird put his cards on the table. "What an awful day."_

"_Did Sam already pay a visit to Dr. Hayman?" Dom asked, directing towards Baird._

"_Err?" The blonde only raised his eyebrows._

"_Oh, because the whole vomiting and stuff like that." the other Corporal quickly continued._

"_How would I know? She doesn't report to me." Baird took a look at his watch. "Yeah, time to go." He wouldn't have been Baird if he hadn't an ace up his sleeve. "Santiago. Granny." He overstated, nodding in their directions._

_When he finally was out of the room Dom couldn't keep it in any longer. "No! Holy shit! She's pregnant by this asshole?"_

"_At least it looks like she is. But I'm no doctor."_

"_I always thought she couldn't have children?"_

_Bernie shrugged her shoulders. "Apparently she can. But even if she can't, that doesn't mean that it's a free ticket for fucking around the whole of Sera without any protection."_

"_There you're right." The nightly activities between Sam and Baird weren't really a secret anymore. They spent the day cutting their throats so that nobody could notice what was going on._

"_Idiots." Bernie spoke out loud what Dom was thinking._

"_Getting his child? Gosh! This must be really hard. And telling Baird must be another turn of the screw."_

"_Oh, Blondie will get over it. After all he can raise another little asshole." Bernie couldn't help but grin._

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm sorry, Corporal. There was nothing I could do." Dr. Hayman was as professional as ever when she informed Baird about what he already had known when he carried Sam back. Despite of all he didn't answer her, but just left.<em>

_He had known it. He had warned Marcus. And he had warned Sam. … And he had been overlooked by them. That fucking bitch hadn't only risked her own life… She had pushed her luck__– pushed it too far – and had finally lost. Normally he would have said something like it was her own fault, but this time he couldn't. It had been his goddamn child she had carried inside her, playing Superwoman by all means._

_He shook his head. As soon as she was released he would have a serious conversation with her. But for now he couldn't bear her anymore. That brainless bitch… The same held true for Marcus. Such a wretched failure! If Delta had been his own squad, women wouldn't even have had a chance to get in. That was for sure._

_His hands running through his hair he pulled off his goggles, looking at them. "Fuck you, Sam!" The next moment he slung them away somewhere heedlessly and set out for whatever._


	3. Ch3: Painful Closeness

**Author's Note: **To start with I want to say thanks to all the people who added this and my other story to their favorites and alerts during the last days/weeks. I would have never expected that. Since I'm over a separation I decided to focus more on my writing, the English stories as well as my German Gears fanfiction.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. There's a lot of banter and also Mac, Bernie's dog. The action parts will start with chapter 5.

Ah, well, there's one last thing I wanted to say. I guess most of the readers came here by playing Gears 3 (it's an awesome game, isn't it?). I don't know if you've read the book Coalition's End. I did and well... You probably know what I mean. Nevertheless have fun.

**Chapter 3: ****Painful Closeness**

Had it been too hard to break his nose for no reason?

_For no reason? Good one, Sam. He simply got what he deserved._

What was bothering her more was the fact that she'd lost her composure so heavily. That wasn't her at all. Yes, she was a tough woman; tough enough to bear up against an asshole like Baird. Maybe with his broken nose he would look like her father. Sam remembered her mother often saying that her father had broken his nose some time before the siege of Anvil Gate and thereafter looked more aggressive than he actually was.

She began to grin broadly but immediately hated herself the next second for even thinking about that. How could she dare to compare her father to such a bastard?

Sam sighed and watched her bottle of beer standing in front of her on the table. After turning it over in her mind for long time she finally ended up in one of the staffrooms. She couldn't help it but somehow she had known that Baird would be in a very bad mood after what had happened. Returning to Delta had been a big mistake and to be honest she didn't feel like putting up with Baird and letting herself get run down any longer.

Suddenly the door opened and Sam looked up. Hell yeah! It hadn't been enough for today. She took a heavy pull on the bottle, watching Baird pass her by without saying anything; at least for the moment. She already suspected that he was only preparing for the final hit… which wasn't long in coming.

"Enjoying your beer? I guess now you are allowed to again." Short and effective. Baird took off his armor and set it aside.

Sam rolled her eyes but then decided to keep a cool head. She wasn't in the mood for a serious discussion with him. Instead an almost creepy silence filled the room. It was the next time she looked up from her bottle when she realized that he was already sitting beside her, staring at her. She sighed again. "Okay, so what do you want?"

"Your little I'm-kissing-Cole-and-really-own-Baird activity from earlier was just ridiculous. You really think I'm getting jealous? I wouldn't have been even if you still were two by two."

Okay, so apparently Baird was out for a riot once again – in contrast to her. "Look." She faced him. "Can you shut your mouth at least this time, _please_? Or do you really think that I give a damn shit on what happened? All I want to do now is just sit here and think in _silence_, without being overwhelmed with accusations. Is that okay?"

Sam had adopted a rare quiet tone. Baird still continued looking at her, taking away her bottle of beer. "That's not a solution."

"Yeah." She cast her mind back to her emotional outburst right in front of Cole and began to feel ashamed. The Cole-Baird and Baird-Cole connection always worked, so she could be dead sure that the blonde man was informed of her crying like a little girl. Strangely enough he was permitted to hurl everything he wanted at her – it was all the same; in the end everything was fine again. Actually nothing was fine. She felt like a piece of shit, physically as well as emotionally. But what of it? It was better not to look back. Just carry on, day by day. That was the whole secret. She wasn't the kind of woman who was licked and then didn't get up when she was lying on the ground. Unfortunately… now there was something that would - at least in her memories – connect her to Corporal Asshole.

Talking of that bastard, she only now noticed that he was wearing some kind of mini splint on his nose bone. "Makes one battlefield injury more," Sam joked, probably glad that this comment would distract her from her dim thoughts.

But it didn't. Baird had nothing to say. Apparently his accusations from earlier hadn't been just brutal stupidity, but were meant serious.

He then became aware of her glance. "So what? I think you were the one who said that she wants to _sit here and think in silence without being overwhelmed with accusations_."

Sam only nodded. He was right. Was she searching for his closeness and… did he feel the same? The answer probably was yes. Even if he didn't show it, she knew that there was a normal guy right under the shell of Corporal Baird; a normal guy who sometimes felt bad and sometimes felt happy. But that he was pushing her away now when she… when _they_ went through all this shit was just hurting. Sure they never had anything but just sex, but she remembered moments in which they'd been really intimate. This all should be over now?

She looked into his deep green eyes. Shit! He was so right! She'd handled her circumstance too reckless. "Shit, I'm… sorry. I didn't mean that…"

Baird again didn't answer. And she hated herself more and more for being so weak and capitulating in front of him. He had her over a barrel and knew that for sure. But then again so did she. Her face almost automatically came closer to his…

"What do you think you're doing here?" he calmly asked when only a few millimeters were left between them both. His clear voice immediately brought her back to the here and now – and the present didn't look so rosy, rather it was all about the child she'd lost in the Lambent attack.

Sam retracted her head. "Never mind. Just forget about it, okay?"

It was only after a while that she finally got a response from the blonde. "Trust me, we better leave well enough alone. Mistakes are meant to be learnt from, not done over again."

A mistake? Now this was what she'd been for him. "All right. Okay." Sam nodded, mentally seething and trying to fight against this feeling. "This wouldn't been better if it'd occurred to you _before_..." She halted for a second. "Okay, you know what? Just fuck you," and then left the room. She didn't want to know how many gastric ulcers she must have gotten so far justbecause of this asshole.

Outside she finally stopped, shaking her head. Unbelievable how little sensitivity this bastard had. Although she knew that Baird did all this with intent. She had experienced that more than only a few times. As soon as she was getting closer to him than just in bed there was always the point he began to build his I-don't-give-a-shit-about-anything-because-you-are-all-annoying-me wall around him, hindering her from understanding him.

Suddenly two voices sounded not far from her, rousing her out of her thoughts. Must've been Cole and Dom. Probably both on their way back to the base. Sam really was tired of all the pity these last few days, so she hid behind a large stack of wood.

And it actually was Cole and Dom as things turned out. Even in the darkness Sam was able to recognize them. They were talking about her.

"But _that_? Cole, you can't always come to his defense!" Dom ruffled through his hair. "Really, that went too far! How can you accuse your girlfriend of it being her own fault that she'd lost the child?"

"From what I can tell you she isn't his girlfriend," Cole answered.

Dom just tapped his forehead at him. "You got it, Baird gets any woman pregnant."

"Sam always thought she couldn't get babies. Seemingly it went well… until today."

"Oh, you don't want to tell me that this is because of Baird's sperm quality, do you? God, you know what? Let's just cut this here." Dom put Cole off.

"Damon thumped me, so the Cole Train guesses that he really must like her."

His response made Dom grin slightly. "Nevertheless, sometimes he better watch his mouth."

After all, Cole knew very well that Baird indeed was thinking more than enough about what he said. All the blonde wanted was preventing people from poking around in all the shit of his past and getting closer to him in general. Every time he came to know a woman better it wasn't of long continuance, if he had showed interest at all. "Well, I think, Damon belongs to Jack or Jack's sister." He clapped Dom on his shoulder. "Sorry, baby, but sometimes not all dreams come true…"

Together with Dom he then went into the base.

* * *

><p>The next day Sam was waiting for further instructions, sitting around somewhere outside of the base. Her sleep had not been very well in particular. Considerably more so since she had contemplated letting herself be redeployed. But then again she didn't want to give Baird this kind of satisfaction. … Shit. She was missing what they'd had.<p>

_Give it a __bone, you stupid bitch. Don't look back but just go on!_

She was suddenly given a start when something wet licked across her face, wincing until she recognized Mac.

"Hi there." Sam patted his head. "What are you doing here?"

"He pissed off early from work." Bernie appeared behind the dog.

"Well, seems like that wasn't a successful hunt, eh?" The brunette woman continued stroking Mac's fur.

The older woman sat down beside her. "Rather not. He isn't in a good mood today. Just snarls and bites the ones who wanna touch him."

"Seems like he wouldn't do that to me."

"That's the way it should be."

Mac now wagged his tail. "Hard to believe that you are such a killer dog." In fact Sam was waiting for Bernie to reveal her real reason for coming to see her. But she had to wait for that. First, Mac lay down on her boots. Only then did the gray haired woman get started.

"Heard from Cole what Blondie said."

Sam cut her off. "You know him."

"And that you've broken his nose." Bernie grinned. "Good work, sweetie."

The other woman followed her suit. "You should have seen him with his stupid expression. I'm really wondering why I already haven't done this before." Then she felt a pat on her back. Bernie smiled at her.

"Your father would be very proud of his daughter, being so independent and strong."

"If you think." Sam wasn't strong. Yesterday was the best example. The very thought of showing weakness two times – first in front of Cole, then in front of Baird - filled her with nausea.

"You do me a favor? Never say die." Bernie didn't know anything better that could convey comfort to Sam in this situation. "I'm gonna leave Mac here. Maybe you'll feel like taking him for walkies." She smiled again and left her on her own.

When Sam was about to stroke Mac once more he just snarled at her. Immediately she withdrew her hand. "Looks like you're just missing the blonde hair for teaming up with somebody."

* * *

><p>Sam was under way with Mac. Well, maybe she would get some action today yet again; maybe he would trace something. A stranded bastard or better still some Lambent bastards. There was a score she had to settle with them… For now she hadn't gotten any briefings so that was why she was here now, fulfilling Bernie's proposal.<p>

The large dog suddenly began sniffing like crazy. "Seems like you've got a trace, Mac, haven't you?" Mac gave the leash a huge tug like he was trying to answer her. "You think we'll have some action? Let's have a look."

Sam unleashed him, watching him running into the forest. She had her difficulties keeping pace with the four-legged friend due to the vigorous exercises during the last weeks and especially the last few days.

Mac barked more aggressively and Sam suddenly lost sight of him. "Mac?" She upped her speed, already out of breath, ran straight on and then crashed against something hard and metallic which crossed her way, making her smashing to the ground and ram her head against a stone there.

"Ah…" Her hand slid to the back part of her head. "What the f-" She stopped rubbing it when she noticed into whom she had crashed. "Aw, shit. Why do you always have to be right there where I am?" The hard and metallic _something _was actually Baird, wearing his full armor.

"Oh well, looks like Mac has found me." He looked down at the dog standing right beside him. "Granny must have taught him."

Sam sat up, looking at the other Gears suspiciously. "And I thought I finally would have gotten some action."

"Cole's here, too. Go and look for him and I'm sure you'll get your action. Among trees and mud."

"Bite me, asshole," Sam cursed, getting up on her feed again. "You know perfectly well there is nothing going on between Cole and me." She rolled her eyes.

Baird crouched down beside Mac and grinned. "Go and seek Cole! I guess Granny has done some smell training with you, so… Where's Cole? Seek him!" He drove the dog nearly crazy. Sam was certain of it when she first saw Mac's tail wagging and then the whole dog disappearing in the forest.

"At your scent he was more aggressive." The brunette woman crossed her arms.

"I guess that because a hard-working man smells tangier." Baird mocked back.

"Hard-working? Where? Can't see a hard-working man. So where's he? Please introduce me to him."

Baird's expression froze after it got dangerously serious. Apparently he hadn't a retort up his sleeve.

"Ow, did that hit home?" Now it was her turn and she would make the most of this moment. "Guess I have to say sorry, Corporal _Hard Work_." She passed him by, scanning the area for Mac. "Mac! Come here, boy!"

Baird grabbed her wrist, turning her around harshly. "Just don't shit me, got it? I don't see the reason for listening to a woman who isn't even able to handle her pregnancy but instead plays Superwoman in battles." His face was looking empathically.

She followed his suit. "_You_ were the one who walked away, right? If you had been more attentive, this fucking polyp wouldn't even have been able to jump at me and instead would have been dead before it could have attacked me!"

"Ohoho, no! I don't take that personally! The first thing you learn during your drill is watching your backside. Obviously you haven't done that." Baird pointed at her with his forefinger.

"I was just _hard working_ with that scramming you suggested to me."

"Naaaww!" The blonde smacked his forehead. "That's childish."

"Congratulations on this insight." She went back to her search for Mac. "MAC!"

"Cole, it's Baird. Is Granny's dog with you?" Sam turned around, noticing that Baird radioed Cole.

"Yeah, baby. Why?"

"We are coming after him." The blonde then cut off the joint and nodded in a certain direction. "Come along, so that Granny gets her puppy back soon. … Surprising that he actually found Cole." He was striding ahead.

"But he has smelled you, too."

"But not aware. Or did you tell him 'Attack Baird!'?"

Sam shook her head. "We better stop discussions like the one before. It's no use," she said, now walking beside him.

"If you say so."

Suddenly she stopped.

"What's with you?" He did the same and watched her.

"Shit, I don't know!"

Baird's right eyebrow rose when Sam finally touched his cheek, kissing him the next moment. This time he didn't reject her, but instead kissed her back passionately. That was the proof; they couldn't cease from each other, it was just obsession. Blessing in disguise they both were wearing their full armors. Sam was sure that otherwise everything would have started from new. But to be honest, it did anyway. Their whole _relationship _or whatever this sicko shit was called, reminded her of a hedgehog's dilemma.

Baird would have loved nothing better than to split up her armor; she could feel it, but fortunately no Gear possessed such a power. He gasped and then continued kissing her.

"Yo, but don't get too obscene."

Sam immediately startled up. It was Cole, standing a few steps from them – and with him was Mac. She faced Baird, closed her eyes for a moment and then stepped back a few centimeters while the blonde just cleared his throat.

"There we go! You have the mutt, Cole." He took away the leash from Sam and attached it to Mac's collar. Only then did he return it so her.

She really admired that Baird was able to switch that easy time and time again. "Come, boy. Let's go back to your mistress," she said when she finally had taken the leash, watching Mac wagging his tail and trailing her right behind him. "Catch ya later, guys."

"Wow," Cole said when Sam and Boomer Lady's dog had left. "Whose tail's also wagging?" He bumped his buddy with his elbow.

"Yours? You're still keen on her." Baird went on. Apparently you couldn't really escape from your destiny. He had tried by all available means and it was the first time in his life he had failed. How many times did he wish to have this Marcus Fenix aura around him? … Although that didn't keep Anya away from him too.

"She's your girl, baby." Cole laughed. "I'm not gonna challenge ya for your position."

Baird just lifted one eyebrow. "And I almost had got used to the idea of becoming a daddy."

Cole looked astonished at the sudden honesty of his buddy. Maybe all was getting too much for him now and he had to vent his spleen. "Wohoho, the child would have cursed from an early age."

At first Baird responded with a simple grin, but then he said: "I would have expected nothing else from my son."

"Son? Baby, what if it would have been a girl?"

"Ffft! Even then."

Cole rubbed his chin. "Yeah, Sam doesn't seem to be the type for braids and all this stuff." He laughed out loud but fell silent when he noticed that Baird didn't react to this. He had withdrawn back into himself. "I'm sorry, baby."

"Marcus wants wood, so he'll get his fucking wood." The blonde ended up the talking point completely and Cole decided to better leave it at that. In the end he had to reason his problems with Sam out by himself. And the former Thrashball player was sure that he would do that, if he hadn't already done so. The situation from before had been revealing enough.

Cole couldn't deny himself a slight grin.


	4. Ch4: Time never forgets

**Author's Note: **Welcome back. Yeah, I know, I'm really slow as for updating on FF. However, I wanted to say thank you to the people who left a review. :)

This chapter is a complete flashback chapter again. So keep in mind that every single part is completed in itself and that all parts aren't in a chronological order. ;)

It's really short (oh my, I'm not used to these short chapters since I've started writing this story) - I'm sorry - but funny (at least I hope so). You have no idea how difficult it was for me to write the third part. Writing drunk people really can be a pain. XD

**Chapter 4:**** Time never forgets**

_The news had already spread like wildfire._

"_Oh shit."Cole put his hand at his mouth when Dom was telling him about the attack on Sam. Certainly he got this information first hand from Marcus, who on the other hand had gotten it from Anya. "And all that in her condition." _

_Suddenly Dom's expression changed into one of frustration. "There's more to it than just that…"It was like the situation reminded him of his own family, of all he had lost. He knew best what Sam must've felt like… and probably Baird, too. _

_He didn't have to end the sentence; Cole understood anyway. "Shit. I've gotta go look after Damon."_

_Dom shook his head. "He's missing. Nobody knows where to." _

"_Double shit. That's no good…" Cole bit his lip. He knew that his buddy had put up with the fact that Sam was apparently very well able to become pregnant. Certainly most of the people always saw the asshole in him, but he wasn't really the one he projected. "Radio?" the former Thrashballer asked. _

_Dom shook his head again. "Turned off."_

"_Let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid. … Kicking some polyps' asses after ripping out their legs or stuff like that…"_

"_He's gonna reappear again at some point for sure." But even Dom was dead sure that Baird would remain disappeared for a while. Presumably he had to deal with some things by himself._

_What a fucking shit this all was…_

* * *

><p><em>A whole week had passed by since she had set a new world record for the vomit – according to Baird. Upon the advice of Bernie Sam had finally decided to pay a visit to Dr. Hayman, just to get the confirmation of her assumption. Baird by contrast hadn't got anything so far.<em>

"_Hey, sweetie." Bernie, who was having a cup of coffee with Anya at the moment, gave the brunette woman a warm welcome. "Have a seat."_

"_Ahhh…" Sam groaned and finally stopped the older woman with a wave of her hand while sitting down on a chair._

_Bernie decided that she really looked like shit. "Short of sleep?" she asked. "Vomiting or other activities?"_

_Sam repeated her previous gesture, this time resting her head on the table._

"_Must have been nausea, I think." Anya looked at her sympathetically. _

"_I tell you, being pregnant sucks soooo much," Sam groaned again. _

"_Even if it's none of my business, but… does Blondie know about this by now?"_

_The brunette looked up to Bernie, then shook her head. "No. No… There hasn't been any suitable opportunity yet."_

_Anya couldn't help smiling. "It's a mystery to me how he is still oblivious to such a thing."_

"_Hey, careful there, okay?" Sam pointed her finger at the Lieutenant. "As if __**your**__ Marcus would notice!" The next second she became completely silent and just looked back and forth between the other two women._

"_What's wrong? You feel sick again?" Anya asked her._

"_Mhm." Sam rested her head on the table again. "Hopefully this is over soon…"_

"_Oh, this will take some time." Dom patted on her shoulder, making her flinch._

"_Jeez, Dom!" Sam looked at him, sighing. "Seems that everyone except for Baird knows it already."_

"_That's how it goes," Bernie glanced at the younger woman insistently. _

"_Okay, okay!" Sam sighed once again; she was gradually driven into a corner and there wasn't any other chance left than to clear things up now. "I'll tell him straight away."_

"_What are you going to tell me straight away?" As if on cue Baird appeared next to Dom._

_Bernie and Anya were grinning, Sam by contrast silenced. She seemed to grope for the right words._

"_Didn't you get enough sleep once again? You really look like the walking dead, Sam." Baird remarked._

_His comment made Bernie roll her eyes. Who was this asshole trying to convince that he'd be in the dark about that? All the persons present knew very well that Sam was often staying overnight with him – so it was nearly impossible that Blondie didn't know about her lack of sleep the last days. When the brunette woman still didn't answer anything she decided to put an end to this misery. It wasn't supportable any longer. Although the whole affair was none of her business, somebody finally had to take charge of it. "You still don't understand, do you? She's pregnant, for fuck's sake!"_

_That was it. Silence. At least until…_

"_Ahahahaha, Granny! Really good one!" Baird clapped Bernie on the back, still laughing. This didn't change until he became aware of Sam watching him seriously. Piece by piece the puzzle fell into place. He stopped laughing. "That was a joke, right?"_

"_Sure it was," Sam said sarcastically. "I'm barfing so often lately because it's really fun to me! And I'm eating more because I want to increase weight. I'm feeling too skinny, you know? … Son of a bitch!" She then stood up and passed him by._

_Baird's jaw dropped. Shit, pregnant? There could be no question of that; she was infertile, wasn't she? He shook his head. "Hey, hey! Hang on a second!" Baird turned on his heel, leaving the others and following Sam. "Don't give me that shit!" That was just impossible! Shit! Him playing daddy?_

_Dom gazed after them both. "Well, that's what I call a Bingo." _

* * *

><p><em>Baird had come out of hiding – in fact he ended up in the bar and he wasn't alone. With him were nine empty bottles of beer. The tenth one was already located in his hand.<em>

"_Damon Baby! Man, the Cole Train was really starting to worry about ya." Cole took a seat next to him. "Apparently passed your time well, eh?"_

"_Whaddya want?" Baird looked at him, holding his bottle out to him. _

"_It's okay, let me take you back to your quarters, okay?"_

"_Forgeddit! You wan' me barf, ya? I doso when I see Marcus or Sam…" The blonde drank the bottle in one go, smashed it onto the table afterwards. "She should pay attent'n, I said. Did she? Nooooo! And Marcus… th's motherfucker. I told him…" Baird paused for a second, hiccupping. "'ve told him he sh'd send her away! Cole." He patted his buddy's shoulder. "Cole, ya'r always right, s'you tell me who's lettin' a pregnant woman take part ina battle? I'm gonna kill th's bastard! Yesssir!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, baby. But not today."_

"_But yaaa!" Baird pointed at Cole. "Ya prove me right!"_

"_Hehehe, sure I do, baby. Come, let's go home." Cole grabbed his arm, but the blonde freed himself from that grip. _

"_Forgeddit. Th's goddamn bitch!"_

_The former Thrashballer sighed. "Okay, you know what? I'm gonna foot your bill and then we leave, deal?"_

"_No, no." Baird put him off. "Nooo, ya don't hav' to. I'm stayin'."_

_Suddenly Cole looked serious. Baird had definitely had enough. "Okay, Damon. Party's over."_

"_Ohhh no! I's only just startin'!" The Corporal leaned his head against his buddy. "C'm'n. Ord'r somethin'. Don't leave yar best friend alone."_

_Cole had to fan himself; Baird's smell of alcohol was that bad.__He gently put his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Everything's okay, baby. I won't let you alone, but you definitely need some fresh air. Come along." He stood up and immediately supported him, paying his expenses and then leaving the bar with him._

_Arriving outside he finally dropped his buddy to the ground._

"_Mus' puke…" Baird sprang up staggeringly, vomiting himself right into the next bush._

"_Oh shit, baby. I'm so sorry for you two…" Cole murmured. He thought about it for a few seconds, and then was sure that this was the first time ever he had experienced him this extreme way._

_Suddenly Baird began to laugh. "Funny, isn' it? Now I know how Sam mus' have felt whenever she got her fuckin' sickness." He gave Cole a pat on the back, going on with laughing until he screwed up his face slow but steady._

"_All right, all right. You drank a few too many, baby." A few too many was definitely an understatement; it was almost a miracle that Baird was even able to stand on his legs._

_As if the blonde Gear had read his mind, he sat down on the ground again, hanging his head completely drunken. Cole squatted down next to him, watching him thoughtfully. "We gonna talk tomorrow, when you're sober, okay?" But the only answer he got was a snoring. Okay, so it seemed that he could tuck Baird into bed._

* * *

><p><em>Sam turned away right after Baird had gotten off of her. She could hear the bed creaking under his weight when he stood up and disappeared in the tiny bath next door. Aha! It was always the same. She sighed, staring at the wall in front of her.<em>

_Fuck that, she finally had to tell him. He may was too dumb to interpret her sickness the right way, but at the latest in a few weeks - when something would show up - even he would notice. No, he had the right to know the truth. She rolled back on her back, hearing the bath door again. Then she looked at him. Baird did the same, not saying a single word._

"_Listen," Sam finally began, being intent on telling him the plain truth._

"_What's it?" Baird casually slipped something on._

"_It's about…" The brunette woman stopped; the sickness had returned once more. She really would __be thankful when this phase ended._

"_Vomiting again?" he asked her, disbelieving. "Man, you should go to a doctor. But then again you could put the frigging mutated grub siblings to rout with your barf."_

_No answer; Sam just stood up and ran into the bath, flipping him the bird nonetheless._

_All Baird did was grin and follow__ her, leaning his body on the door frame. "Some problems with gastric flu?"_

"_Shut… the fuck up!" Sam gasped, grapping the toilet bowl. "Keep your stupid comments to yourself, asshole!"_

_But of course the blonde didn't. "Maybe you've got bulimia?" he teased her further._

_Sam slowly turned her head into his direction. "I'm gonna smash your balls, I promise…"_

"_Looks like you've lost weight, you know?"_

"_Goddamn, Baird!" She banged her fist on the toilet. "Stop it!" Otherwise he always played the Mr. know-it-all. Why not this time?_

"_Fuck, are you getting your period, or what's wrong with you?"_

_That was really a great one. Haha! 'Cause she even hadn't gotten that for weeks now. "God, Baird!" Finally she was able to stand up from the floor. "Just leave it alone, okay?" She passed him, still naked, and went back to bed._

"_What about giving you the boot? You want that? You can get that." Baird bitched, launching himself on the bed, too._

_The __brief rocking due to his weight made her feel sick again. "Don't bother! I'm leaving by myself." When she was about to get dressed Baird suddenly held her back, glancing at her insistently and pulling her back onto him. He kissed her roughly and suddenly there wasn't a reason for leaving anymore._


	5. Ch5: Letting go

**Author's Note: **I am so sorry. I know I haven't updated here for years. :/ Since I had at least three more chapters on my Deviantart account for years (okay, since September 2011, to be exact... man, that's really some long time...), I decided to finally put them on here, too. That's the good news. The bad news is: I'm out of a beta reader for now. That leaves me two choices: Either I'll upload the last chapters in my horrible uncorrected English or someone wants to take over that task from my old beta reader (unfortunately she hasn't got the time anymore) and help me to correct some grammar and stuff. However, I'll shut up now, enjoy the next three chapters.

**Chapter 5: Letting go**

Baird was about to open the door to his quarters, when suddenly someone grabbed his upper arm and shoved him into the room. He was pressed against the wall and then could recognize the person who was responsible for this: Sam.

"We need to talk, Baird." she said.

At first he pushed her away rather roughly. "What gives?" he then asked.

Sam backed away from him voluntarily. "You can't just kiss me, got that?"

"What?!" Did Baird hear wrongly? That was topping it all! "Me? Kissing you? Sorry, but you were the one who kissed _me_."

"But you took part."

Baird kept quiet. God, she had the most frigging arguments he'd ever heard in his whole life from someone. He only hoped that she would notice that. And as it was she seemed to do so; at least her next words were less idiotic.

"Actually it makes no difference who it was in the end. Let's stop doing stuff like this, once and for all. You've said that it was a mistake. And that's what it was."

Baird nodded. "Finally you've realized." Now that he had a little closer look at her he had to say that she was still looking like a piece of shit. Maybe his accusations hadn't been correct, but taking them back was ineligible. Yes, he was leaving her alone with this all – but what brilliant things should he do and tell her? Staying with her the whole day, admitting that he felt sorry for what had happened? Surely not! Sam was definitely able to deal with it on her own; she was strong enough, that was for sure.

Furthermore this was the best opportunity to finally end this fling. In the past everything had worked even without all this shit, why did it change? Why did this have to end up in a fucking fling in the longer term? Sure, it was fun, but nothing more.

_Can you call this coldhearted? I don't think so._

Baird assumed that Sam thought the same. She wasn't a bitch who was holding onto someone, but he couldn't exclude that her point of view changed with her pregnancy either. She would have needed him and he would have been there, no matter what would have happened.

_I may be an asshole, but not one who's clearing off as soon as a girl gets pregnant._

Sam wasn't saying anything. Baird really wondered what she was thinking right now.

_Probably not much. What do you expect from someone who has lost her child and whose former child's father is making off __**now**__?_

No, he just had to hurt her. It was the best for them both.

Finally Sam got her voice back. Being the woman they all knew well, she said: "Being with you was already starting to bore the hell out of me."

Baird gave her a broad grin in return.

_You bet._

"What?!" she pressed him on.

"Oh, nothing. Now be a good girl and leave the boring Corporal alone for a while, okay?" He earned a flash from her eyes with that comment. "What? Just _this once_ I haven't started teasing."

"Believe me, I'll be really glad not to see you again almost every night."

"Oh yes, I forgot that. You were forced every time, when coming to me, begging for some fun. I must also have forgotten that it was that bad that you've made all these noises…" Baird's grin became a leer when he noticed that Sam bit her lip. _Now _she was getting back that she'd annoyed him in the woods. "'_Harder, Baird! Oh, don't stop!'_" he copied her. "Seriously, who are you actually trying to convince, Sam?" He looked down to her a bit.

"Stop that!" she snapped at him.

"You sure? But you like to hear that."

His arrogant tone really pissed her off. "Fuck you, asshole!"

"Just shut your trap." Baird suddenly grabbed her and kissed her. With a hack on his shin he had to stop this as fast as he had begun. Sam had successfully distanced him from her. "Ouch!"

First she scowled at him, but then relaxed. "I'm sorry."

Meanwhile he looked at her blankly.

"Baird." Sam's voice softened. Suddenly she wasn't the strong woman she always pretended to be anymore. "You've to set me free. … I can't go on this way." She dropped her gaze, then turned her head away, immediately leaving his room.

When she'd closed the door behind her she finally took a deep breath. Somehow she was feeling free now, from whatever. From now on she could leave the past behind; Baird wouldn't upset her plans no more.

* * *

><p>"I don't really know if that's a good idea, Bernie. She's still out of it," Dom said to the gray haired woman, checking his Lancer for the next mission.<p>

"It's called _direct face-off_ and I tell you, she's becoming batshit crazy if she's staying here all the time. She wanted to rejoin Delta and now she gets what she wants. Some action." Bernie strapped on her boots and then took her Lancer, too. "Moreover she's the one having that nice bike. Hard for our glowie friends to catch her with that, isn't it?"

Dom finally nodded. "Yeah, guess you're right. Marcus has already told her off."

Bernie gave him a wink. "Good boy. I also have ordered her to our meeting point." She couldn't help but smirk.

Honestly, nobody would be surprised if Sam was going to blow a fuse after what had happened to her. There was also the question of what was going on now between her and Blondie. It seemed nobody knew that for sure – well, at least nobody had perceived any suspicious noises from his room since Sam had left the hospital. Apparently the issue was over. Bernie was of the opinion thatit was for the best. Sam and Baird were really dominant persons; only God knew how often they were quarrelling with each other. Oh no, that was a mistake. Almost everyone knew it, because they had caught their arguments. At least after all this shit had happened.

It was important to Bernie to be the one who accompanied Sam when they were going to dig the frigging Lambent nest. Yes, somehow she sometimes felt responsible for every single member of this squad. Even for an asshole like Baird. Basically he wasn't that bad at all – and he must have suffered from this incident enough, that was for sure.

_Well, we all have a skeleton in the closet._

Now it was three Gears against a bazillion damned Lambent. But that would work out all right. During the last few weeks this had become some kind of a routine duty. Nevertheless Victor would go crazy if he got wind that she was part of blasting a Lambent tree, Bernie was sure.

"Let's go then." Dom nodded in her direction and led the way to the depot, their meeting point. It was agreed that they'd take the Centaur, although Bernie definitely expected Sam would take her Rat-Bike.

And there she was already waiting, sitting on her bike. "Took you a while." She grinned and seemed to be in very good spirits. "Anyway, why do we have to take Dom with us? Doesn't our Sergeant dare to leave things to us women? No offense, Dom."

"Haha, no worries, Sam." Dom scratched his head. "I won't get in your way."

"I'm taking the bike but I guess you've already thought that," Sam continued. "So… I've also got the coordinates… Anything else?"

"Don't go it alone." Dom cut in quickly. "You stay behind or next to us, for my sake even in front of us. I don't mind."

Sam stopped him with a wave of her hand. "If you like."

Then Bernie and Dom entered the Centaur, departing the base the next moment while Sam was driving next to them on her bike.

"You see the stalk, Sam?" Dom asked her via the radio after a few minutes.

"Sure I do. Let's kick its ass." She grinned audibly, suddenly opening the throttle and therewith passing by the Centaur.

"Sweetie, you heard Dom, right?" Bernie made sure when the bike disappeared in front of them slow but steady.

"I guess you have to drive faster then."

The gray haired woman looked at Dom. Yes, Sam was stubborn. She often didn't listen to reason, especially when it was about the glowies. Even Bernie couldn't blame her for this. "Follow her," she finally said to the younger Gear, who now stepped on the gas.

Even from afar they could see all the polyps seething around the stalk. "Marcus had thought of something when he sent her with us. Sam's equipped optimally. Let's just blast away this asshole." Dom said, watching Sam scorching straight through the little army of polyps, running some of them over and then making a U-turn.

She goosed the engine, starting again and driving back. Her one hand took out her Snub Pistol, firing at some of the polyps. She definitely grinned in satisfaction when these claimed several of their fellow species' lives with them while exploding. Arriving at the meanwhile parked Centaur she made a full braking.

"Good work, Sam." Dom and Bernie were already awaiting her, their weapons ready.

The brunette woman dismounted from the Rat-Bike. "Will be a pleasure to blow up this fucking tree!"

For a second Bernie believed that there was a diabolic grin on Sam's lips. Apparently it did her good. "Okay, Dom and me will cover you, Sam. So you can attach the explosive. And remember, the stalk will probably produce more polyps. Be careful."

Sam nodded, took her Lancer and aimed at the first specimens coming towards them. She opened fire while the other two Gears did the same, exterminating the remaining ones which were located in close vicinity to their host bit by bit.

"Easier than I thought," Dom shouted among all the noise.

"What else did you expect from a super-duper team like us?" Bernie joked, aiming over the distance at some more polyps. "Gotcha!"

The only one who didn't take part in this little chat was Sam. A passing view of her revealed to _Granny_ that she loved nothing better than to rip apart every single polyp on this isle.

"Clear!" Dom yelled again after several minutes had passed by and there was nothing crawling around anymore. "Go, Sam!"

Sam didn't need to be told twice and started running towards the stalk. Only a few meters away from it she suddenly felt a heavy hitch and landed on the ground. She gasped for breath, then got the feeling of a déjà vu. They must have missed one polyp – and this one was sitting on her body right now. It stared at her, probably ready to detonate any second. Before her eyes a film from the past started to play. The polyp attack on her, being pregnant, almost ripping out her guts. She couldn't move.

"Sam!" Dom's voice sounded loudly. He came towards her at a fast pace.

She looked sideways, watching him. His voice turned into Baird's, his silhouette became also Baird's. Never again did she want to be that weak. Never again did she want to lose. In slow motion she finally reached for her Lancer which she had dropped when she went down.

_Baird can't help you. You're on your own. You always were and you always will be._

Sam grabbed the weapon by the barrel and hit the creature off her body as hard as she could. "Motherfucker!" she screamed. Immediately she was on her feet again, placing her one boot on the polyp's body and pointing the Lancer at it.

"Sam, goddamn! Watch o-" She pulled the trigger, even before Dom was able to end his warning. But he could see that she had kicked the polyp away before she had shot it. The following explosion made her hit the dirt.

"Sam!" Bernie rushed to her. "Are you nuts?" Nevertheless, she and Dom were glad that she was okay when she stood up again.

Promptly Sam glanced at the stalk. "Hurry! Otherwise there will be more polyps soon!" She sprinted towards it and launched her chainsaw bayonet into it, creating enough space for the explosive.

Dom and Bernie were busy with watching the area for more enemies in the meanwhile.

Sam loosed the C-4 from her belt and attached it, grinning. "See you in hell, asshole." She then turned around, collected the other two Gears. Running back to the vehicles, she held the detonator in her hand. "Go, go!" she shouted.

The stalk was already producing new polyps when she decided that they could wait no longer. "Shit, we've got no more time left! Here goes nothing!"

"Wait, Sam! We're not-"

It was too late. She had triggered it. At this point they all were smashed down by an intense explosion. Some dead polyps were tossed over their heads.

Some seconds passed by until Dom and Bernie looked up.

"Please remind me never to go on an excursion with Sam ever again." Dom said, out of breath.

"I will. God, I'm getting too old for this crazy shit." Bernie first looked at him, then watched the area for Sam. Where was she?

"Yeah! Son of a bitch! C'mon! Where's the rest of you?!" They could hear her yelling in satisfaction, probably full of adrenaline. The brunette was on her feet again by now.

"Wow, calm down, Sam." Dom put his hands on her shoulders. "You've killed them all." He didn't want to imagine how much her blood was stirring. She was even trembling.

"That was… crazy, sweetie." Bernie joined them, scanning the battle area. The stalk was taken to pieces. Sam had placed the explosive very well that had to be admitted. For the blink of an eye she thought that the younger woman took a deep, shaky breath.

"Let's return to the Base," Dom suggested, now that there was nothing to do anymore.

* * *

><p>After returning Sam had some time to herself. There was a place she had sought more often the last days and which she was also seeking right now: the creek. The rushing water and the fresh air were always helping her to become clear-headed, to reflect over things, to recall her past.<p>

Standing there, she took a look to her side. Subtly Marcus Fenix had consorted with her, also viewing onto the sea.

"You were successful?" he asked in his common tone.

Sam just nodded and paid her attention back to the calm sea. It was like an omen. Last time she was standing here it was rather rough – just the way she'd been inside for a long while.

"Yeah. … Thanks for giving me that chance."

"We simply needed someone with expertise in explosives."

"Sure." Having a conversation with Marcus was always like talking against a wall, with the slight difference that you got at least clipped answers when things went well. Sam hadn't held him responsible for what had happened. Yes, she knew, Baird did. But in fact it had been her own fault. She had put herself into danger without thinking about it and to be honest: She would have done the same even if Marcus had put her off.

She had heard from Dom that Baird had thumped Marcus after this incident and they both had had a really bad argument. Maybe the Sergeant actually felt a bit guilty – she didn't really know – but it was a fact that he gave her the chance to go with Bernie and Dom although he knew she wasn't fully fit again yet.

"Your mind's quite made up?" Marcus suddenly asked.

Sam just nodded. "Yes. I've already talked to Hoffman. I'm going to let myself redeploy, serving another squad." This decision already had been long overdue. It would make the whole situation when being on duty easier for Baird and of course for her. And although she was apprehensive of Baird not giving a damn shit on it, she still hoped the other thing. Regardless of how his attitude towards her redeployment finally turned out, it was too late now. Too much had happened; too many words were said, he'd hurt her too much and probably she hadn't been much better either.

As silently as Marcus had come all the same he left again, making his way back to the Base. Only a few meters apart Baird was standing, with an expression on his face that would have loved nothing better than to kill the Sergeant. In passing Marcus's hand grabbed the blonde's shoulder, true to the motto 'You've finally failed'.

Baird followed him.

* * *

><p>"Hey! I'm talking to you, dickhead! What did you two discuss out there?!" Baird called Marcus out on what he had caught from his conversation to Sam outside the Base.<p>

At first the Sergeant didn't answer him. Instead he _delighted _the blonde with his clinical expression, provoking him in some way.

"Fuck! You're surely not standing around somewhere with a woman and keeping your fucking mouth shut!" Baird nearly lost all self-control and grabbed Marcus by his collar, ramming him against the wall. "What do you want from her?! Mind your own friggin' business! I just say _Anya_!"

Marcus now gave him a harsh shove backwards so that he had to release him. "Private Byrne is going to be redeployed at her own request. That's all," he then answered Baird.

The blonde man was suddenly taken by complete surprise. He had expected anything, but that? Giving in didn't fit to a woman like Sam. "You must be kidding."

"Go and ask her." Marcus made a short pause. Slowly but surely he was sick to death of them both creating confusion within the whole squad. "Your problems aren't my business. You finally should get your lives back together."

"Right." Baird pointed a finger at Marcus. "It's not your business! So keep your advice for yourself!" The latest patrol mission crossing his mind, he folded his arms. "What was the point of that action with her, Granny and Santiago anyway? I guess you know that she's not the fittest at the moment, right?"

Oh yeah, the older man already knew where this conversation would go. It was always the same old story. "Shall I handle her with kid gloves then? Everyone on this squad is treated equally."

"Ffft! You're an idiot, that's all." Baird was waiting for the Sergeant to react to that, but it seemed that he was good in controlling himself. But there was one thing that always made him lose his patience. "You'd even allow Anya to scamper out front if she was pregnant, wouldn't you?"

Okay, this was the point where Marcus no longer contained himself. Baird could feel it when he got his fist right into his face. The Anya-issue always affected him. Seeing him freaking out rather counted among the rare moments in life.

"Don't be ridiculous," the Sergeant grunted.

"I am right and you know that!" Baird pretended to be unimpressed although his face was aching like hell. "You're treating all of us equally?! The fuck you do! Whenever possible you are keeping _your _frigging girlfriend out of all this shit!"

Marcus came up to him, stopping right in front of him. Hell, he was such a tosser.

"I've a task for you then. Compare Anya's experience at front to Sam's. Even an ignorant asshole like you should see the difference."

His condescending statement provoked Baird all the more. "You would like that, wouldn't you? Don't talk your way out!" He finally followed the Sergeant's suit and put on the same condescending behavior, looking at him disparagingly.

"Hey, hey! No cockfight in here!" It was Cole's voice and he immediately intervened, pushing the both of them apart. "Give you a hug, folks."

"Pshaw!" Baird uttered, while Marcus simply turned around and walked away. The situation was defused. "Who does he think he is?!"

"Baby, now you gonna come down and tell the Cole Train what happened." Cole put his hand on Baird's shoulder.

"She's going to let herself redeploy and that bastard of Sergeant mentions it only casually!" The blonde leaned against the wall.

"Who? Sam?" Cole was astonished just the same.

"You know another woman among this squad who's crazed?" His buddy raised one eyebrow, a bit irritated.

"Well, no. Stupid question, I'm sorry, baby."

They both remained silent for some seconds, before Cole finally looked over to Baird. "What about just telling her you want her to stay?"

"Ffft! To what end? Things are cleared up."

The former Thrashballer heaved a deep sigh. "Man, you two behave like children. Baby, you can't live without her and she can't live without you – so where's the damn problem?" His big hand started to pat his shoulder. "Pocket your pride and already propose to her."

"What?!" Baird immediately spun around. "What the fuck?! Are you fucking crazy?!"

"Just kidding, baby." Cole laughed. "But hey, even if she's part of another squad there's till the possibility to… well." He made a sound in analogy of his words.

"She has ditched me, remember?"

"Can't hold that against her. Your words weren't that wise, baby."

"Yeah, goddamn! I already know all that! … Nevertheless I won't take it back. She's fucking crazy! Did you hear from Santiago what she's done to this stalk?" Baird looked up to the ceiling, his voice softened again.

"So what? She's got her piece of mind now," Cole grinned, patting him one last time on the shoulder and then pointing towards the Base's exit. "I thought you wanted to work on the vehicles?"

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>Nearly two hours he spent lying under the Armadillo, checking whatever. He didn't even know by himself. All he knew was that maintenance work was the best opportunity for him to get away from it all. God, they were at war once again and he didn't have anything better to do than bothering his head about a frigging woman. Okay, things went rather suboptimal than anything else, but that she was fleeing from him? Baird seemed to overestimate her.<p>

A knock on the heavy depot door let him finally jolt out of his thoughts. He hit his head on the vehicle's bottom, startled, then rolled from beneath it. "Ahh.. What's the matter?" When looking up he realized that the visitor was Sam.

… _of all things._

Baird rolled his eyes and went back to work without saying a single word.

Sam came towards him and banged her heavy boot down on the floor creeper just several millimeters from his crotch, immediately rolling him back in this way. Baird had automaticallyjerked. "Hey, careful! That's a very sensitive area!" He noticed that she was holding some plans in her hand. "And that's…?"

"One of Marcus's plans. He needs something 'extra strength' from you. Whatever that means." Sam shrugged her shoulders.

Baird inwardly smirked. He recollected the old times.

"He told me to give it to you," the woman quickly added. She didn't want to waste more time than necessary with him.

"Just put it down somewhere. I'll look at it later." He pointed towards the ground and when Sam put the notices down he sneaked a peek at her ass. "Anything else?"

"He said, it's _urgent_. I think you can drop your work there." Sam pointed at the Armadillo.

"Jeez!" Baird finally stood up clumsily, cleaning his hands. "What does our lovely Sergeant have in his tiny crazy mind then?" He reached for the notices and flipped through them. "Ffft! In the case they want to dig another frigging Lambent nest they better send you instead of a bomb then."

"What's the point of that?" Sam asked, little amused.

Baird's eyes went from his sheets to her body but the brunette waved him off. "Forget it. I assume that you've got all you need. See you." She turned around and went several meters back to the gate, when his voice retained her.

"You are going to let yourself redeploy…?" The Corporal mentioned this almost by the way, while he was studying the notices again.

His target didn't face him, but instead asked: "You want to prevent me?"

"Why should I? Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Even less when you are that chickenshit." Baird continued reading.

"Fuck you," Sam retorted calmly.

"Ah, are you digging out your swear words once again because you're running out of arguments?" the blonde taunted.

_Don't let him provoke you, just don't let him provoke you, Sam. It's just Baird. You know him. Calm down._

Sam closed her eyes. "Yeah… So long!" Instead of responding anything further she left the depot and left him alone with his apparent frustration. It wasn't all the same to him, was it? Shaking her head she went on.


	6. Ch6: Long-time friends

**Chapter 6: Long-time friends**

Cole took the initiative; he felt he had to because it was definitely enough. Baird, Sam and him truly formed a whole. At least that was what they once did. It usually made no difference to him what they both did during their spare time, but at this point itdid – hell, Baird was about to let Sam go. And once more it was because of his damn persistent arrogance. Not to mention the fact that letting her go would be a steep decline for their mini squad for the simple reason that she had nearly as much front experience as Baird and he did.

He just couldn't stand idly by since he had heard from their meeting at the depot. It was enough for him, always watching them hurting each other, especially after their heavy loss. That was why Cole had decided to finally force Baird into apologizing to Sam in hopes that this wouldprevail, convincing her to stay. In short: He had told his buddy lies to decoy him under a pretext. He had told him that Marcus would have important news for them and was now waiting for him. As soon as Baird arrived he would distract him and then take him to Sam's quarters, forcing him to do what was long overdue. Yes, it was a simple plan, but simple plans were always the most effective.

The problems between Baird and Sam were burdening the whole Delta Squad by now and it couldn't go on like this anymore.

"There you are, baby," Cole said when he saw that Baird was finally advancing.

"Let's just get this over with." The blonde passed him by quickly. It seemed that he had lost the little respect he once had for Marcus since the incident with Sam happened. They probably would never be best friends in this life.

While Cole tried to engage Baird in conversation frantically he slowly changed the direction in which they went a bit, leading him right to Sam's quarter. Now the only thing left to fall into place was her being there.

"Have you heard about Alpha, knockin' some Lambent drone's lights out?" he asked, in the hope that Baird wouldn't figure his plan out untimely. And it seemed that it definitely worked; apparently his buddy was too mentally absent.

"No but at least they get drones. We always get these tiny shitheads. Where's the action?"

Baird's answer made Cole laugh. "Maybe we'll be lucky and next time get some drones to shoot."

His friend only muttered.

"Grumpy again today, Damon Baby?"

Another mutter, but then Baird finally opened his mouth. "Tell me… This one isn't the way to our lovely Sergeant." He lifted one of his eyebrows suspiciously, when Cole stopped right in front of Sam's door. He knew this door, he knew it damn well. "Okay, what's the point of that?"

But Cole lifted his hand to stop the blonde guy before he could go on. "Now you are gonna listen to me, baby. You are getting your ass right in there now and apologize to the lady for saying that it was her fault that she had lost your baby! … And for all the other ass kicks you gave her!"

"You are crazy!" Baird wanted to leave but Cole grabbed his shoulder with one of his big hands, retaining him by pulling him back easily.

"_Now_." the former Thrashballer said with emphasis in his voice and took over the knocking on Sam's door for Baird, who was looking at him in disbelief.

Just one second later he was looking at Sam the same way when she opened the door.

"What's on?" she asked, watching both men, already suspecting what was coming in when Cole was taking part.

Baird said nothing for a while until Cole rammed his elbow in his side. The blonde gave his friend a blankglance but was finally able to manage an apology. "Listen. As far as I'm concerned I would never do this but Cole here is forcing me to," he hissed.

This little prologue alone made Sam cross her arms in front of her chest.

"What I've said to you… It wasn't meant that way… okay?" His eyes met hers and she had trouble to stand her ground.

"You mean you want me to stay with Delta," Sam then teased him.

Cole meanwhile rolled his eyes. Here they went again! Always the same power game with them both.

"Take it as you will." Baird left her and his buddy alone.

Especially Cole's view followed him until he completely vanished, only then he speak to Sam by himself: "Sorry, baby. You know him, he'll just never learn. Anyway, we wanna keep you. Without you all the missions would be half as exciting as they are now." It was Sam's lack of an answer that made him realize that he might have expressed in the wrong way. "Sorry again, baby. Wasn't meant that way. I know you just want them to pay for what they've done to you and-" Cole stopped again. "Aw, shit. Stupid Cole Train wasn't thinking what he said."

But Sam waved him off. "Forget about that."

"You mean you'll stay?" he then asked hopefully.

"I guess I can't leave my two boys alone, right?"

Cole grinned broadly at her sentence, enfolding her the next moment. "Yeah baby, let's give these motherfuckers hell, wohooo!"

"For sure." Sam tried to respond to his grin but it was hard for her.

Cole decided he better let go of her, watching her disappearinto her room again, and he felt bad for her. She had set her heart on Baird – for whatever reason – and he was fighting her devotion tooth and nail, hurting her even more and more. Cole was sure that the situation would have looked entirely different from what it did now if Sam hadn't lost their child during this attack. Baird had gotten used to the thought; at least it was what he'd said to him. This was Bairdish which was to say that he probably had been tickled. And how much the loss had hit him – Cole had seen it with his very eyes when he met him in the bar, dead drunk, and took him back to his room after that.

_Actually they both should talk about the whole thing. Of their own accord. There's no Dom or Cole Train who can help them._

If it was true what Baird had told him, she had gotten rid of him once and for all. Cole really couldn't blame her for doing so although the blonde was his best friend. Too bad how things did work out but if this was what they both wanted he had to respect that.

But for now he was gonna follow Baird, already expecting that he would be cross with him. If there was one thing on this world his friend really hated then it definitely was catching him out.

"What was that all about?" he finally asked when he had caught him up.

"You've got your way, Cole, haven't you? I apologized to her, even if I still don't know for what." Baird was unusually calm to his surprise.

Nevertheless Cole's patience gradually snapped. "Baby, you know, usually I'm always siding with you but not this time. You have any idea about what _she _went through? If not, go and ask Dom! Compared with you he went to see her..." He brought his thumb and forefinger to his forehead. "I don't say you-" but he was interrupted by Baird's piercing glance.

"Is there actually any other issue in your life you want to talk about? No wonder that you all are carrying inherited wastes with you, if you aren't able to let go." The blonde didn't come to an end yet. "If you feel like you have to then go and talk with Dom about how heartless I am. I for one don't feel the need to talk about this anymore."

"God." Cole decided to leave it the way it was. "By the way, she's staying."

"Just as well. At least she's able to aim more or less," was Baird's answer and the former Thrashball player considered that it was Bairdish for 'Glad about that'.

* * *

><p>"You decide to stay because you were begged for it so cutely and how do they give thanks? They send you out on patrol." Sam went next to Cole and Baird with her Lancer ready but this time the blonde man didn't let himself get provoked.<p>

The three of them trudged through the undergrowth of the woods, the area which was allocated to them on this day.

"Ffft! Here's not even shit!" Baird complained about the – for his mind – boring march. "Alpha must have won the lottery."

"Haha, Baby, cheer up. Ya gettin' a walk and lots'o fresh air!" Cole grinned.

Sam was the only one who didn't participate in this conversation, but scouted around in the area. The two men went on as if nothing happened when she suddenly stopped. Absent-mindedly she grabbed Baird's and Cole's shoulders, making them stop, too.

"What is it?" Baird's eyes followed her gaze. Then he saw what she did. "Oh, shit."

"Amen to that, bro…" Cole was standing there, motionless. "Quiet!" he then said while lowering his voice.

They could make out something big at a distance, something really, really big.

"What the hell is that?" Sam nearly whispered, meanwhile taking shelter behind some shrubbery together with her companions.

Baird loosed his binoculars from his belt and moved some centimeters to the side to get a clear view on the big thing. Only a few seconds later he put his finger to his earpiece, contacting Marcus. "Marcus, you hear me? It's Baird."

"What gives?"

Baird cleared his throat silently. "When you wanted some extra strong explosive from me… Uhm… was it coincidentally intended for a _Berserker_?"

Cole's and Sam's eyes widened by hearing the b-word. They stared at the blonde alarmingly.

"Must have forgotten to mention it," was Marcus' reply.

"Haha, really funny, asshole! Anyhow, here's another one." Baird made a short pause. "And grubs."

"Grubs?" Marcus verified.

"Yeah, Glowie ones. … Hey guys!" Baird looked at Sam and Cole. "Looks like Alphadon't have the monopoly on all the fun any longer."

"Get outta there and whenever possible without calling their attention to you. We will settle this in another way." the Sergeant ordered.

"It's not a normal berserker, is it?" Sam asked Baird silently.

"Does it look like a 'normal' berserker? If something like that can ever be normal…" He handed her the binoculars so she could convince herself. "It's a fucking _Lambent_ Berserker."

Sam took the binoculars from him, touching his hand for one moment but forcing herself not to feel anything. She looked through them and saw the giant Berserker with her own eyes. "Fuck!"

"Good to know that you already knew about the existence of these motherfuckers, Fenix. Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your talkative nature?" Baird remarked sarcastically.

"Just come back, that's an order. Marcus out." And then Marcus cut the connection.

"Okay, you've heard Sergeant Incompetence. Here we go." Baird moved as silent as he could backwards, in the direction to their base.

_There will be more and more of them coming. We no longer have all the capabilities at our disposal to prevent them from driving us into a corner someday. We aren't safe here any longer. Actually we never were. Someday gas and ammunition will run short – and then? Shall we sit here and wait for our end? Ffft! Not in my back yard! I'd rather swim back to the mainland._

Oh yes, swimming – a really nice idea. Or what about living a life underwater? Maybe in the air? What a load of crap! Even if they managed it to return to the mainland – there were the grubs waiting for them and there was a high probability that their half siblings, the Lambent, were there too.

_Great prospective. Someone should reveal this while talking to Hoffman._

He didn't know if the possibility of return had ever been considered, but perhaps they would have more radius of operation there than they had here. Baird took a look at his teammates, but mainly at Sam.

_Conceivable bad circumstances for a pregnant woman. Maybe it's better the way it all went._

"What shall we do now?" Sam asked, still with a low voice. They all knew what the situation was about. Time for the rose-colored glasses to come off.

"What do you think? Sitting on our hands until someone comes to a decision." Baird answered. "As is always the case."

"Shit, it's over," Cole chimed in. "There will be more of them, for sure."

"Of course. We are screwed," his buddy replied.

* * *

><p>Baird and Marcus disappeared in the base's corridors as soon as Delta-One had met Delta-Two there, once more conversing severely.<p>

"Fuck, I didn't know about any Berserkers either," Dom said, obviously shocked by the news. "Not even Anya knew. Must have been one of the actions Hoffman wanted to plot secretly so as not to cause any disturbance."

Cole gave him a nod. "Maybe he'd hoped to settle the issue once and for all."

Sam went down on her haunches, leaning her back against the wall. She was done. The last few days had been too much for her, pure stress.

"Everything's okay, baby?" Cole asked her.

She had closed her eyes and just nodded. "Could be worse, don't worry."

"What you need is some rest, Sam." Dom kneeled down in front of her. "By the way, I haven't told you yet that I'm glad you are not leaving."

She grinned slightly, finally opening her eyes. "You really don't have to mother me." With that she stood up again and now caught sight of the tattoo's final outcome which she gave Dom a while ago for the first time. "Not my worst work. Embarrassing that I haven't paid attention to it before." Sam scratched the back part of her head sheepishly.

Dom needed some seconds before he finally understood what she meant. "What? .. Oh yes. Thanks again for that."

But Sam waved him off and wanted to back out. "You guys keep me up to date, yes?"

"Sure, baby!" Cole came towards her. "You need someone to take you home?" When Sam laughed he put his one arm around her shoulders and started walking to her quarters.

_Smalltalk with Sam._

Dom stayed back, sighing.

_If that's what helps her…_

* * *

><p>"And? What's it like in the matter of operation Glowie Berserker?" Baird starred at Hoffman. "… which apparently isn't the only of its kind…" he added after a short break. Marcus next to him only grumbled cautionary, but it was reason enough for the blonde to point at him with his finger. "He recently likes keeping secrets and operating in secrecy."<p>

"Sergeant Fenix had orders to maintain silence," the Colonel answered calmly. He never let himself get provoked by Baird.

"Okay, okay, and the rest had to arrange the equipment. Good to know how it works." Baird shrugged his shoulders and Marcus bored his gaze into him.

"We weren't sure about Alpha's sighting. Creating a panic would have been the last thing we needed. But now it looks like we have a bigger problem out there," Hoffman continued. "That means we might have to expect more Berserkers. In line with this we need more of our resources."

"… which we don't have." Baird sounded amused over so much simplicity. "Colonel, nothing against you, but forget this crap. These glowies are breeding out there – and maybe they do it like the grubs. Only God knows how much are out there already. We can exterminate some of them but we could never be successful against them forever."

Certainly, Baird was a mouthy jerk, but this time he was right. Hoffman and Marcus knew that as well and silence filled the room for some time.

Finally the Colonel said: "In any case we have to kill this Berserker."

"Pshaw, typical!" Baird's hand reached for his head. He turned away. "I gladly repeat it again. Gas. Limited. Ammo. Limited."

"Okay, so what do _you _suggest, Corporal? Return to the mainland?" Hoffman lifted one eyebrow.

"Yes." Baird had to think about it. "Yes, why not? Better than sitting here someday without having anything, cooped up like friggin' rabbits. Maybe you gonna think about it." He turned away in anger and wanted to leave but stopped for a second. "Oh well, if you want some equipment from me, then I'm presuming to take part in the operation. Will be a pleasure to kick the ass of this ugly lady."

Hoffman looked after Baird and then at Marcus. "I hate this guy."

"But he's right. At least mostly." It was Dom's voice; he had listened to the whole conversation.

The Colonel nodded. "We are going to assemble later and plan the whole thing well. After that you all better take a nap. You're gonna need the sleep."


	7. Ch7: Anything but planned

**Authort's Note:** Well, that's the last chapter my beta reader Mana was able to correct (thank you so much for all your help during the last years!). So, again, if anyone is interested in helping me improve my English and show me my mistakes in the original documents, just send me a PN here.

**Chapter 7: Anything but planned**

Actually, it was that simple. Going out with the Ravens, locating the bastards and their lady to give their position to the other team, which was responsible for the explosives. Next someone had to play the decoy to make Mrs. Lambent follow and lure her to the bomb – with a distance as long as possible. The _someone_ then had to save his own ass and the bitch would go BOOM!

"Great plan," Baird mentioned, on his way through the woods together with Sam and Cole to play the decoy. "Just good that Sam volunteered for this. Always good to know that we have such an efficient member," he sounded unenthusiastic.

"Baby, calm down. The lady knows what she's doin', right, Sam?" Cole tried to spread a good mood and his blond haired friend suddenly stopped.

"That sounds really, really good." In fact he wasn't of the same opinion as Cole. This bitch never knew what she was doing; the main point was that she could show off.

"Baird," Sam said, irritated. "Shut it _now_. I'm the one with the bike. But hey, if you would like to control everything you are cordially invited to jump on and come with me, _Corporal_."

Baird now turned around and pressed his forefinger against her chest plate, facing her. "You can bet your life on that, _Private_."

The brunette woman slapped his hand away. "Then hope that they have unloaded the bike at the agreed point."

Cole started laughing at the two of them. "Wohoho, you two will rock, I'm sure. Plus it's good that Baird keeps an eye on you, baby."

All Sam did was snort. "Yes, keeping an eye on someone. He's good at that. Definitely."

The blonde almost killed her with his flashing view. "Watch your mou-"

"No, no, no. We all calm down now and give us a hug. Deal?" Cole put one of his big hands on each of their shoulders.

"Let's keep moving." Baird didn't pay attention to Sam and her provocation any longer.

The walk within the next minutes went well, without any special occurrences and when they finally arrived at the agreed point Sam delightedly noticed that her Rat-Bike was already there. "Nice! All we have to do is wait for further instructions, right, Corporal?"

"Right, you smart cookie." Baird leaned his back against one of the trees, letting his eyes run over the area. Hoffman's plan was nutty. What if they suddenly got into trouble with a second berserker? In this case they would look stupid. Hoffman had asked who would dare to do this job, decoying the Lambent bastards into the trap – and Sam, this insane bitch, immediately put her hand up. He didn't know whether he liked that or not. But otherwise, why should he care? Their past circumstances were cleared …

From his place he could observe that she was showing Cole something on her Rat-Bike, but couldn't understand what she was saying to him. Apparently she was better or she was a damn good actress. She even laughed when Cole patted her shoulder while doing the same. Yeah, she was definitely in a good way.

_You'll see, Cole. I promise you. She bites._

Grumbling he shouted over to the two of them: "Hey, I'm stretching my legs for a moment. Will you manage?" Without waiting for an answer he disappeared.

"Pah, stretching his legs. He's going for a pee, the idiot." Sam murmured and she knew him very well. He was pissed off because of something.

"Baby, it's enough, okay? Please. Do it for me." Cole looked at her. It was clear that it wasn't easy for her but she had to at least try.

The woman reacted to him with an innocent glance. "I won't stand in the way."

"But you provoke him just as much as he does to you."

"He's an asshole, may I remind you of that?" Sam sighed deeply and sat down on the forest floor. "I don't want to provoke any trouble, believe me, Cole. It's just… Sometimes I can't help it. What he said…" Her eyes became sad or at least the other Gear thought they were.

"Look, he even apologized to you." Cole tried to console her.

"What does an apology from someone like him mean?" Sam spoke under her breath.

"Maybe more than you think it does, baby."

Then they heard a rustling from behind. It was Baird who returned from his short walk and he was grinning. "Let's get started."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Delta-One, consisting of Marcus, Dom, Anya and Jace, were on their way in search of the berserker which was sighted by Delta-Two yesterday. After they hadn't discovered it where it was supposed to be Marcus ordered another team to place the explosives right here. The rest was left to Delta-Two.<p>

"Sam's really got balls that she wants to go through with it all alone," Jace stated. "If I was her I would have already shit my pants."

"Trust me, you're not alone with your opinion." Dom smiled for a second. Jace's reaction was hardly surprising in consideration of what he had experienced when he was younger. "Dangerous beasts."

"What if there are more than just this one?" Anya asked while keeping the area underneath the Raven in view.

"Then we have a problem." Marcus did exactly the same. "We better hope that it's just this one only."

"But there was also one before…" Dom mentioned, earning a serious glance from his best friend. "Okay, okay, I know. Their destruction has highest priority."

"Look at this!" It was the pilot's voice. "I think we've found what you were looking for, Sergeant Fenix."

All of a sudden all four of them looked out of the Raven. Between some of the forest's trees they could see it, the berserker Baird mentioned, and also some Lambent drones. Marcus took back his head. "Shit…"

"Yeah, they are moving towards the Base!" Jace ended the Sergeant's sentence.

Fenix sat back and immediately began to transmit the exact coordinates to the Colonel so that Alpha-One could deal with the explosive's sharpening. After that he radioed his most favorite friend Baird. "It's Fenix. Baird, do you read me?"

After a short pause the blonde answered: "Yep. Does the suicide mission begin?"

"Yeah." Marcus then also conveyed the coordinates to him and finally told him where Alpha-One would attach the explosive. "You'll have to hurry. I can count at least six motherfuckers together with the Berserker casually walking towards our Base."

"Oh, great! I'll make sure that Sam puts the hammer down."

"We are now trying to amuse them with some air strikes. Let me know as soon as you are within reach."

"You can count on us, Fenix. Baird out."

Marcus removed his finger from his ear. What was that? _Us_? However, the main point now was that they would get rid of these Lambent. "Okay, time to stop them," he finally spoke.

* * *

><p>"Maybe you better let me drive." Baird was standing in front of the Rat-Bike on which Sam already had taken a seat, raising an eyebrow warily. In fact he was shuddering at the only thought of this female version of him being responsible for both their lives.<p>

"Ah, c'mon, Baird. Be happy that I give you a ride after all. It's not that I have plenty of room…" With that said Sam goosed the engine. "Now come or you stay here and I'm going ahead with it by myself."

"Ffft! Alone you'll snuff it." Amicable as he was the Corporal finally took a seat behind the female driver. "Oh, and by the way… Just in case that you haven't already realized it, I'm _a wee bit _heavier than you. So _if_ we are going to fall down from this nice bike here because I had to hold on to you while you are driving at breakneck speed just as you do every time, that'll be on your head."

Sam's head resonated in the tact of Baird's voice, until he finished whatever he had to bitch about. All she said in a dry tone then was: "Baird?"

"Uh?"

"Shut up now."

The brunette took off rapidly and Baird decided that it was probably better to stand by somewhere on the bike. But then Sam slightly and yet jumpily changed the direction and he was forced to hold on to her with one hand. Although she was wearing her armor she was clearly able to feel this touch and suddenly she got an uncomfortable feeling to go ahead with this whole thing with Baird of all people. For Sam it felt like his hand burnt deep into her skin…

"Hold on somewhere else!" she snapped at him loudly, struggling against the noise the Rat-Bike caused. "Otherwise you're really running me down!" And indeed, he followed her demand. Apparently the blonde wasn't feeling much better than her in this situation. Why – for God's sake – did he have to insist on coming with her? Did he want to make up for something?

For several minutes Sam set course for the coordinates transmitted by Marcus until she was able to see at least two Ravens hovering in the air above her and Baird, its crew firing at the Lambent.

The Corporal stretched his head to check the situation and then yelled: "Looks like it's getting serious now!"

The brunette woman drove some more meters. The Lambent drones as well as the Berserker finally appeared in her sight; the few drones were returning the fire coming from the Raven from their cover. "Marcus, we are there. Let's start it!" Sam could hear Baird shouting into his Tac-Com behind her. That was the sign! She immediately stood on the brakes and brought the bike to a standstill obliquely.

By a fraction of an inch Baird would have fallen down but he held himself last-minute. "Hey!" he promptly began bitching, but then took a look to his side, glancing at the really big enemy. "Ohoho, shit! Look at this!"

When he was about to take his Lancer off his back, Sam grinned at him: "C'mon, Corporal. Decoy the lady."

Baird jumped off the Rat-Bike and fired his Lancer straight into the air. He approached the Lambent group, anxious not to diverge too much from his means of escape.

_Just make fuss, Damon._

"Hey, you friggin' pieces of shit!" the blonde yelled towards the enemies, then shot at some of the drones and finally even at their big, ugly mommy. Now he got their full attention – the Berserker started to rage, the drones let loose some indefinable sounds and within the blink of an eye Mrs. Glowie Mom made a dash at him, Sam and the bike.

Baird immediately began to sprint back the few meters to Sam, firing backwards all the time. He jumped on the Rat-Bike while Sam was starting the motor… At least she tried to; the goddamn thing didn't start.

"Shit!" she cursed.

Baird glanced over her shoulder, slow but steady getting uneasy. "Sam, you better come up with something… and fast!"

The Berserker was coming closer and closer – close enough for the two soldiers to watch it raising its giant, glowing fist. No, this was anything but a normal Berserker. On closer examination they could see some kind of tentacles coming out of its back. Reason enough for Sam to awake her machine once again – without success.

In his mind's eye Baird already saw the two of them dead. Instinctively he shot at the enormous monstrosity.

"Only joking," Sam grinned broadly, turning her head back to him. In the same moment the Berserker finally slammed down its paw she stepped on the gas and left it at some distance behind them. Therewith she was able to give her and Baird a good leg-up, before the creature followed them with big steps.

The blonde Corporal meanwhile was pale with shock but quickly rose from the dead again. "I'll kill you for this, you goddamn insane bitch! You can count on that!" he grunted.

"Whatever, see that the lady keeps up with us!" Sam drove away from the enemy, while Baird over and over fired specifically at it, hence it didn't lose its interest in the two soldiers.

_God_, never before Delta's Corporal had experienced anything like this – and he had experienced a lot… Making his way through nice worm bowels, cutting up some worm coronary arteries… "Let 're fucking rip!"

The Berserker closed up and Sam applied the brake for a second, until the giant slammed again. In the same moment she stepped on the gas once more only to drive away from it.

In the meantime Baird had put his arm around her hip again, just not to lose his grip during all these rocking motions. Purposefully, the brunette woman headed for the spot designed for the explosives, the Berserker always hot on their heels.

"Marcus here!" the Sergeant finally reported via radio. "You're almost there! As soon as you are beyond the point you have about ten seconds! You better keep your friend at some distance and get away from there as fast as possible. Marcus out!"

"You've heard him, Sam. Don't screw things up. Otherwise we'll both go west," Baird now communicated to the driver in front of him. The time fence of ten seconds was even new to him, but then again many things had perished within the last few days… He opened fire again; they had almost arrived at the ignition point.

Then, suddenly the earth under them began to quake heavily. Casting a glance to their left side, Sam and Baird became witnesses of a handful of forest trees snapping like they were nothing more than thin matches. Finally the beast showed up and their worst fears became reality: A second Berserker! And not far away from the giant a Stalk shot out of the ground, releasing some polyps and…

"Lambent drones!" Sam suddenly yelled when she caught sight of the glowing grubs.

"Shit! Looks like the big secret's out. No mommy and daddy making love to conceive their sweet little grub baby…" Baird stated, silencing the next moment because the new Berserker jumped towards him and the brunette, letting the ground quiver one more time and then dashing across the clearance.

"Holy shit!" Sam cried and yanked her Rat-Bike around to the right harshly when the gigantic Lambent blocked their way forwards.

"Sam." Baird tapped the woman's shoulder while he was still latching on to the bike with one hand. "We have a big problem. _Behind _us!" he then shouted, reminding her of the first Berserker which now came from the right side towards them.

"God, Baird! I've everything under control! Just shut the fuck up now!" Sam replied, obviously tensed.

_And just put your fuckin' hand down from my body…_

The moment she speeded up the one Berserker finally caught the bike from the right, making it slither severely. Thank God the female Gear had enough experience to balance it. But when it started swaying again it was clear that something must have taken damage from the attack – in this case the back wheel. Conditioned by the bike's damage they got slower and slower. Thus, the two Berserker were able to gain upon them with great strides.

Without any hesitation Baird clasped Sam's waist firmly just to shove himself off the Rat-Bike, taking the woman with him. They both ended up on the ground roughly.

Quickly Sam looked up. "Uh…" She could see the two Berserkers busy with what had once been her beloved Rat-Bike.

His arm still resting around her body, Baird eventually followed her suit. Oh no, he definitely didn't want to be here when the two colossi noticed that they were only destroying some junk and not even caught a single human being. He really, really didn't want to. "Shit!" the blonde braced himself up, pulling Sam with him. "We have to go! Come on!"

When she was dragged along behind the Corporal she took one last glance back at her bike – only then did she made a quick getaway.

While the two Gears were probably running for their life, Sergeant Fenix piped up on the radio. "Get off, you two! In ten seconds it'll be too late!" his deep voice grunted.

"You are fucking crazy, Fenix! You know that?!" Baird answered him, completely out of breath. The ground under his feet suddenly felt odd… not firm anymore. "What the hell?!" he began - then it happened, the forest floor edged down, giving the two soldiers a ride straight down into the darkness.

* * *

><p>"As soon as you are beyond the point you have about ten seconds! You better keep your friend at some distance and get away from there as fast as possible. Marcus out!" Marcus finally put down his finger from his ear, watching the frantic event going on down there with tension. Sam was doing a great job with keeping the Berserker at a certain distance while she was heading for the explosives.<p>

"Marcus!" Anya's voice sounded next to him. She pointed towards some of the trees which simply fell over one after another.

"Company," the Sergeant responded.

"Look at this! There's a second one!" the Lieutenant shouted when she saw the giant beast coming through the remaining trees right onto the clearance and dashing towards Baird and Sam. "My God… What's this…?" she then whispered, watching also some polyps and Lambent drones tracking the Berserker from the Stalk.

Somehow Sam managed to yank her bike around to the right. The new and yet old problem now was the first Berserker which was able to hit the Rat-Bike.

"Shit!" Dom cursed. "Sam, Baird, you can make it…"

The bike moved along unsteadily.

Marcus clenched his teeth. There was no time to lose anymore. Sam and Baird needed to remove themselves from the explosion radius, now that they had – _had to _- change their direction. But then he could see that they both jumped off the Rat-Bike. The Sergeant quickly ordered the initiation via his Tac-Com, reporting to the two Gears on the ground afterwards. "Get off, you two! In ten seconds it'll be too late!"

Baird's reply wasn't long in coming. "You are fucking crazy, Fenix! You know that?!" the Corporal's voice echoed in Marcus' ear.

This was maybe true, but they would make it out of the critical radius within the time fence. Fenix was sure about that. If they were favored by fortune, they would catch both Berserkers in one go. He then went back to watch Sam and Baird running along the forest floor, but suddenly… they were gone.

"Where are they?" Dom scanned the area. "Marcus, where are they?!" The brunette woman and their beloved bigmouth were nowhere to be seen. "Damn, where'd they go?! I can't see them!"

"Ah, shit!" Marcus grunted, at the same time pointing towards a now visible hole in the ground which had to be the reason for their sudden disappearance. "You see that? Looks like the grubs aren't the only ones with a fetish for tunnels…"

The Sergeant had just ended the sentence when the explosives were finally detonated. Offshoots of the blast wave hit the Raven, shaking it only slightly. As the situation went back to normal again everybody involved in this operation sighed with relief – both Berserker together with the polyps and drones were now on their journey to the afterlife. The COG had caught them…

Unfortunately they'd also caught the hole Sam and Baird had fallen down into, submerging it…

"Shit," Marcus grumbled.


	8. Ch8: Trapped

**Author's Note: **I got a new beta reader, hooray! Well, actually two and they both had a look at this chapter. So big thanks to both Jhezz and XXX-Broken-Wings-XXX. Surprisingly there weren't that much grammar mistakes - what in return makes me happy. However, I'm working on the translations of the last four chapters in the hope to finally publish them all during the next months (hell, this story is already finished since 2011 *sighs*). Thank you for reading this story and (hopefully) enjoy.

**Chapter 8: Trapped**

"Uhh…" Sam slowly opened her eyes, all of her bones aching like hell. "What… what happened?" She was shifty-eyed in the darkness and finally lifted her face. The hole which they came down here was submerged. Only a few rays shone through the hard clumps of dirt above her right into the subterranean cabin she was sitting – or better lying – in. But at least it was a little bit lit up.

"We've fallen down here, Fenix had let them fire and BAM! Now we are here and the shaft is submerged. What a wonderful day," Baird spoke somewhere in the darkness, sarcastic as ever.

"Fuck…" The brunette sat up slowly. "Thanks for the summary."

Baird got across to her and squatted down in front of her. He then laid his hand onto her forehead, turning her head a bit aside. "Smart laceration. Looks good on you and underlines your _bad-ass_ nature."

Without a word she grabbed his wrist and shoved his hand away from her. "Don't touch me! Why did you have to drag me down from the bike? I would have worked it out… somehow."

"Oh yes, sure you would have," came the answer from the blonde, who now stood up again. "Let's better search for an exit." He nodded towards a small tunnel, pulling out a flashlight from his belt.

Sam followed his suit. Also nodding, she slowly stood up. "Ah!" the brunette woman then suddenly hissed when her right foot yielded and she finally ended up on the ground again. "Ah, shit!" Clenching her teeth she grabbed her ankle which was protected by the heavy boot she was wearing, endeavored to not show her pain to Baird. She must have dislocated it, or maybe it was just sprained. No matter what, something was definitely wrong.

The Corporal in front of her sighed, a bit irritated.

_Because you are so nice, Damon. It's not that you would have to do this. She even doesn't deserve this – you being nice to her. Next time you leave her be._

Again Baird squatted down before her. Malicious, he said: "Pull off your boot."

But Sam stopped him with a wave of her hand. "Yeah, right! It's not that bad." His closeness began to make her feel uncomfortable.

_Yet again._

It would work. It had to. "This little distortion is not worth mentioning. Look, I can walk," the female soldier assured, standing up a second time – and this time she was actually able to hold her ground, although she obviously had her difficulties.

Baird let her get her way, watching her in amusement when she began to tremble and finally had to give in and sit down again. He raised one eyebrow and gave her a serious look. "Boot off," he said – this time it was more an order than a suggestion.

"Oh, Baird!" Sam complained. "You're such a nag…" Her eyes finally met his and she quickly averted her gaze, unstrapping her right boot and therewith releasing her foot. "Happy now?"

She had just finished the sentence, as Baird had her feet already in his hand and gave it a rough jerk upwards.

A loud CRACK sounded within the cabin and Sam screamed out loud. "Are you fucking crazy?!" the brunette bawled at him with tears in her eyes.

"You better try to tread instead of moaning about everything." The Corporal then waited for her to get ready. He really wanted to leave this cave as quickly as possible.

Sam flashed at him while she raised herself once more, honestly surprised that Baird apparently had more talents than just bitching around, scaring others off… attracting her… She looked at him warily; her foot was not aching anymore.

"So what? Even _oh-so horrible assholes_ have a certain basic knowledge. Or do you really think you'd be the first one whose foot I have reduced?" The blonde hiked his shoulders and switched on his flashlight.

_Last time, Damon. Last time you were nice to her._

"It's official. Damon Baird is Corporal Know-it-all." It took a short while until Sam had put on her heavy boot again, but then she immediately followed Baird through the tunnel, which became darker and darker the more they diverged from the collapse site.

"Where the hell are we, Baird?" she asked once they were underway for some time. Around them everything was still drowned in complete darkness and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Sam had to admit, she was really thankful that the COG had solved the long lasting flashlight problem, so they were now able to make their way through this dark tunnel without being completely blind.

"No idea, but I have a strange feeling that we are not alone down here…" the Corporal answered, being on the alert into both directions.

"Uh, are you trying to be scary?" Sam stayed closely by him while they nosed forward slowly. "I also have a nice scary tale…" she then whispered. "It is said that the ghosts of dead grubs are haunting-"

"That dead grubs are haunting mouthy COG women, yeah. Their spirits love to take control of especially brunette women who are complaining about everything in their fucking life. You should better shut up now, Sam. Otherwise some scary grub ghost will come for you…"

"Funny, Baird. Really, really funny."

"Yeah? As I said, we are not alone." Baird teased, satisfied when his companion silenced for quite a while.

When Sam looked at the cave's ceiling she finally wondered loudly: "How deep have we fallen?"

"Some meters for sure." The Corporal moved along further, stretching out his arm to stop the woman behind him at some point.

"What's up?" she asked, taking a glance over his shoulder.

Baird turned the flash towards a Stalk – at least towards a part of it. This thing must have been rooted somewhere even deeper in the ground, growing through this tunnel right into its freedom, into the surface area.

"I guess this is explaining where we've landed. In the heart of a frigging Lambent nest."

"Nice." Sam didn't sound too enthusiastic about that. She shuddered at the very thought of Polyps and everything else the COG had to face within the past few months. Sharing some subterranean cave system with the Lambent wouldn't leave her and Baird enough room to defend themselves should the occasion arise… "Okay, let's blow it up," the brunette said, reaching for her belt at the same time without hesitation.

"Sure. And bury us alive in one go. I didn't have in mind to end this way. _Great_ plan as ever, Sam." Baird grabbed her wrist to stop her from taking out anything. Instead of releasing his grip he trailed her, illuminating the way in front of them steadily. He was moving in a rapid step, until his companion suddenly slowed down.

"Wait a second," Sam's voice then sounded, exhausted.

Baird lightened her face and she shielded her eyes with one hand from the light. She looked terrible – something he noticed only now. Sleepless and worn out. "Your foot?" he finally dared to ask, in reality fully aware of the real reason behind this.

"No. Just gimme a short break. I didn't have enough sleep." With that declared Sam backed against the cave's wall, taking a deep breath.

"Typical," Baird only snorted in response, making the woman in front of him cringe.

She couldn't contain herself any longer, so it all broke out of her. "Typical, you sayin'?! What do _you_ know?! Do you really think I'm sleeping like a little lamb at night?!"

"Only very few of us do this," the blonde retorted. "But yet they are doing it, and do you know why? So that they would not crock up while they are underway." This would become a longer discussion – the Corporal knew it. To save the batteries, he turned out the flashlight, listening to a bewildered laughter by Sam.

"Really, you're such a fuck! You know for sure what I'm talking about and still you're such a fuck! I don't get it." Sam ran her fingers through her short hair. "Explain it to me, Baird!" When she looked at him bitterly disappointed, the only answer she got was him leaning against the other wall and crossing his arms in front of him.

_You're right, Sam. Indeed I do know what you're talking about…_

Baird had to admit that he was more than surprised about his honesty towards himself. Sam _was_ right and there was nothing he could talk against this. It was clearly recognizable that the whole issue hadn't passed her traceless, but it also didn't alter the fact that others weren't even better off.

Some time passed by until his lips finally moved. "… Didn't Hayman give you any… pills or something like this?"

"Sure she did, but they don't really help." Sam fought to control herself, remembering the two times she had let go of herself in front of him. But was it really that terrible to show her feelings? Sighing, she then continued: "Shit, everytime I fall asleep I can feel one of these Polyps ripping out-"

"Yeah, yeah," Baird quickly interrupted. "We all know the story." He didn't want to hear anything about what had happened anymore. He had put it behind. He had…

_The fuck you have, Damon._

Then it suddenly blurted out of him, as if he'd been a ticking time bomb, ready to explode now. "Stop that, Sam!" The words came automatically. "Forget it and don't keep mentioning it! You can also tell this to your good buddy Cole!" Just good that Sam couldn't see him right now; Baird was trembling with rage, his heart pounding like crazy.

Silence.

"Can we go then?"

Still silence. The Corporal switched on his flashlight again, to have a closer look at what was wrong now. And there she was sitting, her knees drawn up and her face buried in one hand. The look repulsed his normal self-assurance.

_Seems like you've gone too far this time._

Sometimes he really wished to have more tactfulness. So it came that the blonde just stood there and didn't risk to say anything, in case he would say anything wrong. The usually ever so self-opinionated Corporal Baird scratched his neck nervously, trying to avoid Sam's appearance. In the end he finally found himself sitting down next to her. Hesitantly he then put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm-"

Suddenly a rumbling cut his sentence short. Baird immediately jumped to his feet and shone a light on the direction they had came from. Several Polyps were coming towards them. Hundreds, maybe thousands leg pairs were creeping on the ground, leaving a noise no one could forget.

"Shit… The Stalk!" He grasped Sam and started running. "Sam, we have to leave! Now!"

He didn't have to tell her twice; the brunette woman had already gained her composure and produced her Snub Pistol. While she was following Baird, she fired at the Lambent behind them single-handed. The Corporal followed her suit, just running. Running into the unknown darkness.

* * *

><p>"Target destroyed," Marcus passed through to Hoffman very shortly after the Raven had landed and some Gears were already busy with clearing the submerged hole to get Baird and Sam out of it. The first thing the Sergeant had tried was filter down to them via radio, but to his discomfort he had to realize that it was out of order for now. "Private Byrne and Corporal Baird were buried during the operation. We are now just trying to free them."<p>

The Colonel put on a concerned expression. "Absolutely no contact?" he asked.

"No."

"Then I'm afraid we have to expect the worst." Hoffman's tone seemed collected, or at least this was what he tried to make it sound like.

Marcus did know better. Every now and then one could discern a certain sorrow in his voice – and the current moment was one of these times. The Sergeant watched him passing by, in the direction of the submerged place.

Anya, so far silently standing next to the two men, now tried to put oil on troubled waters. "I guess there has to be more than a submerged tunnel, if you want to kill our two spitfires."

"Ya betcha!" Suddenly Cole put his hand on her small shoulder, staring at the Colonel. "Damon Baby is tough, and so is Sam. They don't die that easily! I know it. They're alive." He had heard about the incident via radio, had heard that some problem had occurred – problems in the form of a second Berserker. "You _have _to be…"

* * *

><p>They both fired backwards blindly, since Baird had to light the way in front of them while they were running for their lives. Then finally an explosion – Sam had hit the bull's eye and sent one of the Polyps to hell. "Hah! Good one, Sam! Keep it up!" he coughed, absolutely clear about that the tunnel could completely collapse due to such hits any time.<p>

The Corporal randomly picked any branches and leaded Sam with him. From time to time either he or she struck one of their haunters, each time therewith causing a clear shaking. "Shit, shit, shit! This fuckin' tunnel comes down any second!" It would bury them completely…

"Over my dead body!" Sam yelled, picking a grenade up.

"Are you batshit crazy?!" Baird yelled back, not being able to pay his full attention to her intention.

"Wait and see, Corporal!" The brunette tossed the grenade into the Polyps, then heaved her pistol and fired.

Next thing she remembered was that she was lying on the cold hard ground, after she had been thrown forwards by a heavy detonation. A glance back told her that their way back was now blocked; the tunnel behind them had collapsed. No sign of Polyps anymore. It had worked.

Baird coughed and raised himself a bit. His flashlight was loused up.

… _thanks to Sam and her real great plans._

It was pitch-dark. He hadn't any clue where he was now. Slow but steady he went into a more nastier mood than he had already been into. "Sam." It was not that he let himself go that easily. No, he really tried to pull himself together. Nothing helped. "I just hope you've thought about taking a…" The blonde made a quick break, took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "… flashlight with you," he then ended the sentence, his finger massaging his forehead.

With a coughing on her part she scanned her belt and finally they got light again.

Baird could see that Sam was breathing heavily, sweating from the hunt's efforts. No wonder that she was so hand-tame at the moment. Nevertheless, he reached for the flashlight in her hand and wrested it from her. "Sometimes I really could kill you, Sam! Who was that idiot who had let you join the COG anyway?!"

"Don't air yourself, Baird."

The Corporal didn't reply, instead turned around to light the further way – which wasn't there. In fact they had ended up in a deadlock. More than that, they were trapped, they were plainly _fucked_. He now had to catch his breath very slowly to avoid completely freaking out. Sighing irritated, he suddenly pushed her roughly against the wall with one hand. He then flashed right into her face, grunting: "You've seen that? We are fucking trapped down here!"

Sam returned his look with a strong expression on her face. "Yes, but even without the grenade we would have been trapped in this dead end. The Polyps would have killed us!" She shoved his hand away.

"Read my lips!" Baird pushed her back again. "If we ever get out of here, I promise I'll thump you! And I don't give a shit that you're a woman! Goddammit, of all things I have gone through since I'm serving the COG, this was the dopiest!" he yelled right into the brunette's face.

Sam pulled away his hand one more time. "Bring it on!" And then pointed at the flashlight in his hand, still glaring her, and lowered it. "And take that away!"

"Fuck, if only I had let you pull this through by yourself alone!" Baird ranted, simultaneously illuminating the walls. There had to be anything… anywhere…

"Then I wouldn't be down here now for sure," the woman bitched back. "Cuz a certain someone – let's call him Damon B., just out of anonymity reasons – would have never pulled me down from the bike." Sam came after him and took the flashlight from him. She lighted upwards. "See!"

The area above them revealed a faint ray of light, carving the darkness. Baird's eyes followed the light.

"Lucky you." The blonde removed the flashlight from her again, as if he would like nothing better than to have the full control over the situation by himself. "Anyways. We don't get that high. Not even if I gave you a piggyback." Eventually he leaned his Lancer against the wall and sighed, slowly sitting down on the ground. From his position he observed how Sam tried her radio again and it didn't surprise him that it didn't work. "Forget that. This piece of shit must have been damaged."

"Yeah, you prefer sitting around, we all know that."

"Shut up, stupid bitch!"

"Already forgotten who broke your nose, _Corporal_ Bigmouth?" It seemed that Sam's cool exterior slow but steady began to crumble; she got more and more displeased.

"With your miniature fist," Baird provoked her. Heck, she was such an easy target, ever had been. "_I_ could break it with no trouble."

"Yeah? Then try it! C'mon!" Sam came towards him and held her closed fist out to him.

The blonde didn't react at first.

"See? You're nothing more than a goddamn bigmouth!"

Lickety-split Baird then clutched the brunette's fist tight, pulling her down to him to that she was forced down on her knees on his lap. Looking at her dead serious, he finally hissed: "If I was you, I would stop provoking. I am definitely not in the mood to grapple with you now."

Sam looked him straight into the eye, at least into the part she could see within the slight streams of light.

_Oh no. These days are over. I won't get weak in your presence ever again, Baird. I won't…_

But this wasn't all too easy, as it became apparent. Her pulse rate increased with each second passing by, her hand felt burned by his touch. "Let me go," was everything she could utter.

Baird eventually opened his hand, letting her fist free and put on his usual I'm-above-you-all expression.

"Asshole!" Sam snapped, rubbing her hand. How should she stick this all out down here? Trapped together with the man who had hurt here so much inside a fucking underground tunnel and which - to make matters worse – was now submerged. Sure, there had been times she would have done anything just to be with him, but this one day… it had changed everything. Temporarily she had been uncertain, whether she felt attracted to him or not, but in the end… she did. She fucking did. Despite of his words, despite of the fact that he hadn't visited her just once. He was just Baird and she knew him well, she really wished she could forgive him… but she couldn't.

"It was a mistake," he had said to her, had said it to her face. She had been a goddamn mistake! Why couldn't this come to his mind earlier? Before she started to leech on to him, to the whole thing? Before she had become pregnant? They both would have saved a lot…

Sam finally averted her eyes from him, getting up. There wasn't anything, not anymore. How could she worship a man who had let her alone the whole time with their _concerted _problem? How could she…

A noisy bark suddenly let her lift her face. It came through the tiny gap above her head.

* * *

><p>"And you're sure this will work?" Dom asked, pointing at the dog.<p>

"Of course, dear. Mac knows Blondie's smell very well. If they are anywhere just nearby the surface, Mac will trace them." Bernie started to grin wickedly. "And bite Blondie," she added.

"Let's hope you're right, Boomer Lady. They have to be alive. Damon Baby wouldn't leave me alone, the Cole Train's sure 'bout that." Cole kneeled down in front of Mac, petting the giant dog. "No time to lose," he said to the gray haired woman and Dom - Marcus hadn't joined the search team; the Sergeant had stayed with the squad who was responsible for clearing the submerged hole.

Bernie finally unleashed Mac. "Okay, boy. You know Blondie and his smell, don't you? Listen, I want you to find him. Go! Go, seek Baird!" she ordered and watched the dog making a dash.

The three Gears immediately followed him. At lightning speed Mac pushed the three soldiers through the forest.

"Good sign, Mac seems to give mouth!" Dom panted.

"Definitely," Bernie responded between her breaths. "He's a trace!"

Cole worried about the old Lady. He really gave her great credit for what she was doing for Baird and Sam now, but was also wondering how much she could take in her age.

As if Mac would have understood his mistress he even barked louder and more aggressive.

"Did he get them?" Dom shouted, looking at Bernie.

"Maybe!" the old woman yelled back. She finally caught Mac up, who suddenly stopped, barking at the ground beneath him.

Dom quickly found is place next to the dog, scanning the soil. "Hey!" he then yelled. "Here's a gap or something like that!"

In the meantime Mac had put his nose into the tiny gap and sniffed. His tail wagged and he barked aloud once more.

"Sam? Baird?" Dom shouted into the split. "Can you two hear me?!" But due to Mac's barking he couldn't hear anything, if there had been an answer…

"Drop!" Bernie commanded and the dog suddenly fell silent. "Good boy." She smiled and stroked his furry back.

Dom tried again - faintly and silently a 'Get us out of here!' urged through the gap. With a relieved face the Corporal turned around to the others. "They are down there and want us to dig them up."

Cole breathed a sigh. "Whhoo! I knew it!" The big Gear then kneeled down next to Dom and called: "We get ya out of there, baby! No worries 'bout that!"

* * *

><p>"More luck than judgement, Sam." Now, that it was sure that they would be rescued, Baird was on an even keel again.<p>

"Just shut your mouth," the brunette woman answered in an irritated voice.

"You want to tell me anything before we get out of here?" Delta's Corporal goaded her.

"Thanks, no!"

"Maybe about how much your heart was pounding just now?"

Sam bit down her lip. Where did this bastard know this from? She couldn't remember having a heart pacemaker. "You wish that!" she then answered crisply.

"Not really. Afterwards it ends up in another pregnancy."

Yes, for this comment she would have loved nothing better than to kill him right on the spot, but was also sure that the Colonel wouldn't be too pleased about the loss of his probably best specialist for technical issues. So she decided to better kill him with her view. At the same time she mentioned: "Give it a bone, Baird!"

But he didn't. Of course. Instead Baird probed more and more. "You should pay attention with your next acquaintance."

"Bet your life on that! And please don't come up with anything when the time has come, because it wasn't **me **who has acted like an asshole and destroyed everything!" Oh shit. Had she just indirectly admitted that she still wasn't over him?

_Mistake, Sam, mistake. You actually should know what a sneaky kind of bastard Baird is. _

Indeed he was. Most of what he ever said wasn't left to chance. Princess Asshole said something and at one go he was already one step further.

Just like now. Baird was grinning, making Sam sigh.

_Go ahead, Baird. Just say what you feel you have to say. It can't become worse than it's now. It really can't… or… can it?_

"So much for _'I'm through with you!'_, right?" the blonde remarked, playing at full risk to probably catch a punch by the woman in front of him. This time he would be prepared better than the last time.

But Sam only pointed her finger at him, her mouth ready to continue this endless discussion. When the first word wanted to come out, she was held back by suddenly occurring daylight from above.

"Hey, Damon Baby! Sam!" It was Cole! He was putting his head into the hole. "Glad to see ya!"

"Yeah, yeah, Cole. Always in the right spot at the right time." Baird made a short pause, then grinned. "Maybe a bit late today… Aw, get us out of here!"

Sam squinted against the light, but blocked off her eyes from it with her hand while directing towards Baird. "We'll still discuss that!" she hissed.

The blonde watched Cole lowering some kind of rope ladder. He really thought about it, but finally decided to give Sam the advantage. The woman looked at him suspiciously. He looked back.

"Okay, spit it out!"

"Lady's first." Baird replied in a normal tone and therewith said the exact opposite from what Sam had expected he would. She had thought he would touch on the whole lady thing, just like he did so often.

She then shrugged her shoulders and began to climb the ladder up, followed by Baird.


End file.
